(Warning) strike by nursing staff for relief through collectively agreed staffing at the Charité

dossier

For two years, ver.di has been negotiating with the Charité board about minimum staffing regulations and health protection measures for all employees at the Charité. The board had recently offered regulations for the intensive care units and an increase in the number of so-called “night service groups”. This would bring an improvement for around 700 of the over 13,000 employees. Even after two years of negotiations, the Charité board is yet to make an offer that would improve working conditions for all employees. The Charité also does not make a reliable offer when it comes to “consequence management” (relief regulations in the event that personnel requirements cannot be met). After the massive participation in the warning strike from 27th to 28th. In April 2015, the behavior of the management caused great incomprehension among the Charité employees. Against this background, the ver.di collective bargaining commission does not see the employer's offer as a basis for further negotiations... See background information, actions, declarations of solidarity and callsthe ver.di campaign page . Declarations of solidarity welcome! Please send this to:info@mehr-hospitalpersonal.de.See new:

• With a signature campaign, 3,409 Charité employees are protesting against this restriction of the right to strike and will take part on September 17th/18th. go on strike again
  “The Charité board has enforced a drastic restriction on the right to strike at the Charité in court. By prescribing emergency services, some of which are significantly higher than normal service levels, numerous health workers are denied the right to strike without this being necessary to maintain the emergency service.
  With a signature campaign, 3,409 Charité employees are protesting against this restriction of the right to strike and criticizing the Charité board. In just six days, the ver.di activists collected the signatures for the open letter during ongoing operations. Signatures continue to be collected. They will be handed over to the Charité board on Monday. In the letter, the employees criticize it as cynical that the Charité board presents shift staffing as a threat to patient care, which is regularly undercut in regular operations. The Charité would thus accuse itself of regularly endangering patients.
  Meanwhile, ver.di will appeal against the labor court's ruling. (…)
  The employees will be on September 17th/18th. go on strike again. ver.di demands that the Charité board cancel planned treatments, withdraw the demand for excessive emergency services and enter into a constructive dialogue with the ver.di strike leaders to ensure patient safety and the right to strike.”Press release from September 10, 2026 from the ver.di regional district of Berlin-Brandenburg (“3409 signatures for the right to strike at the Charité – strike next week”)
• During the ongoing strike, the labor court condemns ver.di to guarantee better staffing in some wards and areas than the Charité does in normal operations...
  • ver.di warning strike at the Charité – labor court determines the scope of the emergency service plans
    “…The labor court has determined the emergency service plan for the current strike in accordance with the Charité's application. This extent of the emergency service, which leads to a reduction in the usual staffing levels during the strike, is necessary and necessary taking into account the medical requirements and risks credibly demonstrated by the Charité. The employees' right to strike, which is protected by Article 9 Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law, is not unreasonably restricted.
    The ver.di union can appeal the verdict to the Berlin-Brandenburg State Labor Court.”Press release from September 3rd, 2026 from the Berlin Labor Court on the judgment of September 2nd, 2026, reference number 56 Ga 14764/26
  • “A scandalous restriction on the right to strike” – Court orders emergency services at the will of the Charité board
    “In the interim injunction proceedings regarding the strike at the Charité, the Berlin Labor Court today largely followed the requests of the Charité board. It thus prescribes emergency services for the strike, some of which are higher than the staffing levels that exist in normal operations. For the health workers at the Charité, their constitutional right to strike is being massively called into question.
    "This emergency service regulation is a scandalous restriction on the right to strike for health workers at the Charité. It means that in the event of a strike, ver.di has to guarantee better staffing in some wards and areas than the Charité does in normal operations. The staffing in the wards is therefore well above the legal lower limit. This treatment of the constitutional right to strike is incomprehensible," explains ver.di negotiator Gisela Neunhöffer. (…) The strike will continue on Thursday. The strikers will then discuss how to deal with the new situation.”Press release from September 2nd, 2026 from the ver.di regional district of Berlin-Brandenburg 
  • “This harms staff and patients”
    “An intensive care nurse explains what the federal government's austerity measures mean for her hospital - and how the Charité is hindering the warning strike. (…)
    If the collective agreement for relief no longer exists and the employer has to make savings, where does he save? First of all, the nursing staff. We can already see this with the employer's statement that she is considering whether to reduce the number of training places. Another side note was that you could buy international colleagues. So I say: Does Europe have to bring skilled workers from other countries again and take their skilled workers away from them? And I really appreciate my international colleagues. But if we have the opportunity to educate our youth well here, which is also international, by the way – that is our future. (…)
    The Charité would say publicly: "We want a collective agreement to relieve the burden." Yes, they still want it - the way I wear my earring: it's just beautiful to look at. But we want a collective agreement that also has consequences if it is not adhered to. We saw that this was the only way we could build up more staff: the Charité was under pressure to recruit these staff because otherwise it would have been too expensive to work in the shortage. Because otherwise there would be a punishment, a sanction mechanism. That's just it: They want a collective agreement, but under completely different conditions. (…)
    We are required to have a lot more staff than we usually have in reality. For an emergency service agreement, not for normal conditions.
    [It seems as if people were being specifically sent into service so that they could not be there during the strike.]
    You can see on duty rosters how many colleagues are actually always on duty. You can't fake that. Actually. But I'm not sure what the Charité presented to the court. So, it sounds like there are always a lot of people there - but that's not the case. And I would like the judges to finally be presented with evidence. So staff rosters. You can also see exactly how difficult the operation is, i.e. what level of severity the operation is. N0 has to be done immediately, but N5 is something that can be postponed. And suddenly these are all emergencies - only for the time during the strike. Perhaps you should consult independent experts.”Interview by Lea Fauth from September 4th, 2026 in ND online with Renate Schaffernicht, 62, works as an intensive care specialist at the Charité. She is a Verdi member and part of the Berlin hospital movement.
• ver.di is calling for a three-day strike at the Charité from September 2nd over the relief collective agreement - Charité is de facto suing for normal operation as an emergency service
  • IMMEDIATELY - Charité sues against nursing strike - press conference postponed: 10:30 a.m. in front of the labor court
    “The Charité University Medicine has filed a lawsuit with the Berlin Labor Court against its own employees from nursing, therapy and functional services and their union ver.di. The lawsuit is directed against the employee strike planned from Wednesday to maintain and further develop the “TV GFB” relief collective agreement. The appointment before the Berlin Labor Court will take place on September 2nd at 11:30 a.m. (…) Gisela Neunhöffer, deputy state department head: "It is in the nature of things that the positions in collective bargaining conflicts diverge. The fact that the Charité, a state-owned company, now wants to resolve this conflict by restricting the right to strike of nursing staff, functional services and many other employees is massive foul play. It is clear that the attack of the GKV cuts law is being carried out on the backs of the employees "We expect the state as the provider and the Charité as the employer to respect the employees' right to strike and not to try to bury a collective bargaining dispute through graveyard silence. People in these important professions in particular must have the right to defend their working conditions like everyone else." “We are confident that the court will reject the Charité’s request to weaken the employees by restricting their right to strike.” said Neunhöffer…”Press release from September 1st, 2026 from the ver.di regional district of Berlin-Brandenburg 
    • See the Berlin Labor CourtDate announcement from September 2nd, 2026 : ver.di strike at the Charité - Interim injunction on the scope of emergency service plans at all locations (No. 28/26) - but no verdict yet
  • ver.di calls the Charité employees from September 2nd to 4th. went on strike to defend the collective agreement for healthcare professionals.
    “In 2021, the Charité employees fought for a collective bargaining agreement for relief in a 30-day forced strike under the collective agreement for healthcare professionals. It regulates personnel requirements for many areas in Europe's largest university hospital.
    After almost five years of experience with the collective agreement, the employees are now stepping up to further develop the collective agreement. The collective agreement currently excludes individual employee groups and areas at the Charité. Some regulations have also proven to be insufficient to provide relief. According to the ver.di tariff commission, the training regulations also need to be improved. The employees are demanding more support with training and integration for the numerous nursing professionals recruited from abroad.
    Against this background, the ver.di collective bargaining commission has asked the Charité board to negotiate. Two rounds of negotiations have taken place so far.  But instead of constructively negotiating to improve and tighten the regulations, previously well-functioning regulations are being put at risk. Colleagues are being asked to worsen their working conditions through a collective agreement. The Charité board is currently blocking progress in the negotiations.
    That's why ver.di is calling for a strike starting next week. Limited strike activity will take place on Monday. From Wednesday to Friday (September 2nd to September 4th), ver.di is calling for comprehensive strike measures that could lead to significant restrictions in hospital operations. ver.di ensures that sufficient staff is available to deal with emergencies during this period. Significant restrictions on planned treatments are to be expected…”Press release from August 28, 2026 from the ver.di regional district of Berlin-Brandenburg 
  • See also the dossier for the current legal backgroundNursing budget: The fight over staffing and nursing staff minimums
• Before negotiations on July 30th, ver.di is demanding that the collective relief agreement at the Charité be continued and improved where necessary - despite federal legislation
  • Relief collective agreement at the Charité: ensure good working conditions and good care instead of politics on the backs of the employees
    "The ver.di union is calling for the relief collective agreement at the Charité, which ensures good staffing for nursing and other professional groups, to be continued despite the current federal legislation and to be improved where necessary. The ver.di members firmly reject any deterioration in the collective agreement and thus in the working and care conditions.
    The demands, which had been discussed in well over half of the teams in recent weeks, discussed by over 200 colleagues the previous week and decided by the ver.di collective bargaining committee, were announced on July 15th. presented in the first round of negotiations with the employer.
    Our colleagues at the Charité go into the negotiations well prepared, professionally and with clear technical justifications. Their demands are not excessive, but are necessary so that employees can do their work well and without overload and patients can be cared for safely.
    The employer, in turn, is demanding a significant reduction in collective bargaining standards and, in a message sent to employees before the start of negotiations, threatened to cut jobs if the collective agreement was continued. (…)
    "If all we talk about now is austerity measures and the necessary staffing levels are to be cut, we will quickly end up back where we were 15 years ago in terms of care: too few staff, too high a burden and too little time for good care. That's precisely why we need clear and strong regulations today that protect employees and ensure quality," says Ulla Hedemann, health and pediatric nurse in a children's intensive care unit and member of the ver.di collective bargaining committee. (…)
    The Statutory Health Insurance Contribution Stabilization Act brings the conflict over financing into the companies. But the employees are not prepared to solve it on their bones. In addition to their own working conditions, they also defend good health care. The politically created financial crisis cannot simply be passed on to employees. The fact that this conflict has become necessary at all shows how wrong and fatal this law is," says Gisela Neunhöffer, ver.di negotiation manager and deputy state department head, FB C. The status of the negotiations is now being assessed and intensively discussed by colleagues. The next negotiations will take place on July 30th.”Press release from July 15, 2026 from the ver.di regional district of Berlin-Brandenburg 
  • July 7, 2026, 7:00 p.m.: Kick-off rally by Charité employees for the collective agreement on relief
    "On July 7, 2026, at 7 p.m., the ver.di colleagues are inviting people to a rally at the Charité. As part of their demand advice for the collective agreement for health care professions, they are bringing the discussion about good working conditions and better staffing in hospitals back into the public debate. It's about the future of good working conditions, the quality of care and the political question of whether Berlin has the right to good hospital care even under the conditions of the hospital and GKV reform comes into effect.The collective agreement for healthcare professionals at the Charité has been a nationally respected benchmark for relief, personnel standards and load compensation since 2021. Since its introduction, the Charité has gained over 1,000 nursing staff. At the same time, it is precisely this progress that is under pressure. The reforms in the healthcare system, the threat of capping or even abolishing nursing budgets, the tightening of the failed financing system for hospitals, as well as the inadequate financing of investment funds by the state of Berlin are putting hospitals under massive economic pressure. As a result, disputes about better working conditions and better patient care are being waged under difficult conditions…”  Press release from July 6, 2026 from the ver.di regional district of Berlin-Brandenburg 
  • See more about the termination of the relief collective agreement at the Charité here below and in the dossier:ver.di calls on hospitals to negotiate a collective agreement to provide relief
  • See also the dossier for the legal backgroundNursing budget: The fight over staffing and nursing staff minimums
• Forced austerity in the healthcare system using the example of the termination of the relief collective agreement at the Charité: The neoliberal lie
  "The Berlin Charité has shown for a few years how fair pay can be achieved in nursing. But that is now over. A fatal signal.
  When times are tough, everyone has to tighten their belts. The federal government is currently invoking this neoliberal magic formula to save the healthcare system. It is hardly surprising that the 15 billion euro savings package, which is intended to close the financing gap for statutory health insurance companies, is also intended to put a stop to wage increases in nursing in the future. The consequences of this policy can already be seen at the Berlin Charité University Hospital. End of AprilThe clinic management canceled the relief collective agreement in nursing that had only been won in 2021 . The contract is intended to mitigate the consequences of the widespread staff shortage in nursing. If a nurse works on an understaffed ward, she receives points that she can exchange for either money or free time.
  In recent years, the contract has led to working conditions at the Charité improving significantly. Despite the ongoing shortage of skilled workers, the university clinic managed to build up a massive workforce. Overload situations that used to be the norm are now only exceptional cases, nurses report.
  The collective bargaining agreement developed into a nationwide success model, which the clinic management itself recommended. (…)
  The nursing shortage decreased in many clinics
  In the meantime, it almost looked as if employees could simply go on strike to demand a fairer healthcare system. Patient-friendly care, fair wages and good working conditions no longer seemed to be mutually exclusive, but were within reach. Nursing became an attractive professional field and the nursing shortage decreased noticeably in many clinics. But positive developments like these are too good to remain true in late capitalist Germany. Rising wage costs have been a thorn in the side of health insurance companies and neoliberal health economists for years. (…)
  Slowing down the well-organized nursing workforce and reducing wages is not an unintended side effect of the austerity package, but rather the full intention. This becomes clear when you look at the areas that are only being asked to pay disproportionately for the austerity package: the pharmaceutical industry and the federal budget, which would rather be restructured on the backs of employees and contributors than to tax wealth sensibly..." Comment by Jonas Wahmkow from May 9, 2026 in the taz online (“Austerity in the healthcare system: The neoliberal lie”)
  • See the dossier for background informationNursing budget: The fight over staffing and nursing staff minimums
• [Interview] Charité: “The pressure worked”
  “ver.di aims to make the collective agreement for health protection and more staff at the Charité more binding. To achieve this, nursing staff went on strike for a week in mid-September 2017. The collective agreement has now been reinstated. Does that mean ver.di failed?
  On the contrary. We have taken an important step forward. The Charité has promised in writing that the minimum staffing agreed a year and a half ago will become the basis for the roster design. This means that planning is no longer based on the staff that is available, but rather with the staff that should be there according to the collective agreement. On this basis, negotiations are now underway about what happens if rosters cannot be adhered to. We want binding regulations that work automatically…”Interview at ver.di Health & Social Affairs with Carsten Becker , member of the ver.di tariff commission at the Berlin Charité University Hospital. On October 2nd, the collective bargaining commission approved the Charité's proposal to reinstate the collective agreement under the following conditions: special right of termination, which allows strikes at any time, and promise of negotiations regarding the possibility of sanctions. If the willingness to resume the strike continues to be high, ver.di is commissioned to engage in a negotiation process in a constructive, critical manner with appropriate suspicion. The collective bargaining consultants expect concrete results by mid-November.

• Nursing staff end strike at Charité
  “Charité and verdi agree on a collective agreement: The rules for minimum staffing in the nursing service will be tightened. The nursing strike at the Charité Berlin is over. The largest university hospital in Europe and the verdi union have agreed to reinstate the controversial collective agreement on health protection without any changes for the time being. In addition, according to Charité, the points that still need to be specified in a comment on the collective agreement were recorded in a joint statement. The Verdi collective bargaining commission at the Charité has confirmed this agreement…”Article from October 5th, 2017 in the Ärzte Zeitung online

• [9/25/2017] We are Charité – information evening with videos and guests 
  “On the occasion of the recent strikes at the Berlin Charité locations, we invite you to an information event on September 25, 2017. We show current videos and ask protagonists of the nursing strike movement in Berlin about the current state of things…” More information about the laboret.tv event from 6:45 p.m., b_ware Ladenkino, Gärtnerstr. 19, Berlin Friedrichshainat labournet.tv

• [Call for strike] The ver.di union is calling for a strike at the Charité from September 18, 2017 for an improved collective agreement on health protection 
  "In the nursing and functional services from Monday, September 18th, 2017, the start of the early shift, all Charité employees from Monday, September 18th, 2017, the start of the early shift, in all other areas, such as outpatient clinics, administration, laboratories, teaching and research from Monday, September 18th, 2017, in the usual business or opening hours. All Charité employees at all locations are called upon from September 18, 2017: Act together! Successfully enforce it! (…) Strike locations: CBF: Westhalle / CVK: Glashalle / CCM: Foyer Inner Med.” ver.di strike call from September 2017 – for the demands see, among other things, the strike call:
  • Strike at the Charité. Interview with Carsten Becker (spokesperson for ver.di Charité) 
    “Two years ago, collective bargaining was achieved at the Charité. This should end the ongoing overload. For the first time, minimum staffing levels for hospital wards were agreed in a collective agreement for health protection, which stipulates how many staff must be deployed depending on the care required. This has caused waves nationwide and encouraged employees in many hospitals to seek collective bargaining relief. And it has led to a political debate about the nursing shortage. Unfortunately, little has actually changed for the employees at the Charite since then because the employer does not adhere to the implementation. There is still a lack of staff and stations are understaffed. That is why ver.di has not extended the collective agreement on health protection. After negotiations with the employer for an improved collective agreement failed, a forced strike began at the Charité yesterday, Monday (September 18th).…”Interview from September 19, 2017 by Michael Koschitzki at socialism.info with an interesting depiction of the first day of the strike
  • Additionally:Relieve Berlin! Rally on September 19, 2017, 5:00 p.m., in front of the Federal Ministry of Health, Berlin, Friedrichstrasse 108
    "ver.di is calling for binding guidelines for all hospital areas - it cannot remain at minimum staffing levels! We are making our demand for relief in the federal election campaign heard. We are calling for a rally on September 19, 2017 at 5 p.m. in front of the Federal Ministry of Health in Berlin Friedrichstr. 108, 10117 Berlin, access via S/U Friedrichstraße or U Oranienburger Tor. With Grit Genster, Head of Health Policy, ver.di federal administration and speeches from activists from hospitals and supporters” Call from ver.di for health and social services in Berlin-Brandenburg from September 2017

• ver.di action strike on August 8th at the Charité: We put on rose-colored glasses! 
  "... "According to statements from the board, the work situation at the Charité is continuously improving. However, the employees experience a lack of staff and constant work understaffed. That is why we are putting on rose-colored glasses at this strike in order to be able to better understand the board's perspective," explains Dana Lützkendorf from the ver.di collective bargaining commission.In the negotiations, ver.di is particularly demanding clearer regulations on how the Charité must react to understaffed shifts. The Charité board has so far refused to stipulate a more binding regulation in this regard. (…) The strike is less aimed at disrupting operations at the Charité, but is intended to send a symbolic signal. Since the Charité's services will only be reduced in a few areas on this day, only individual representatives of the individual areas can take part in the actions. The Charité refuses to enter into an emergency service agreement with ver.di, as was used in the recent strikes. The emergency service agreement had been confirmed by the court and proved its worth in a strike that lasted almost two weeks…” Press release from ver.di Health and Social Services in Berlin-Brandenburg from August 2017 , see:
  • No longer alone: ​​At first, colleagues at the Charité University Hospital fought for more staff. Now Verdi wants to lead employees across the country into the dispute
    "It will probably take ten minutes for all the solidarity photos to be taken. Around 200 employees are now standing in front of the Charité headquarters on Tuesday morning. They have all stopped work in order to enforce better regulations so that more female colleagues can finally be deployed in the chronically understaffed wards (...). But for ten minutes it is not about the fight at the Berlin University Hospital. The 200 women - only a few men can be seen here - are posing, raise their fists in the air and, most importantly, hold a banner in front of them that says: “Charité greets the University Hospital and Sana Clinics in Düsseldorf.” As soon as the photo is taken, the banner is put away - and the next one is picked up, and then another, and another. (…) “We already have a collective agreement, which is now being negotiated again. That’s why we have a slightly different schedule than the “collective relief movement,” explained the responsible union secretary Kalle Kunkel to jW. But another fact is likely to be crucial for the Charité employees who are again in industrial action: “We are no longer alone.” Contribution by Johannes Supe to Junge Welt on August 10, 2017
  • Another strike for more nursing staff at the Berlin Charité
    “There was a strike today at the Berlin Charité University Hospital. The verdi union has called for a warning strike today. In doing so, Verdi wants to put pressure on the stalled negotiations on the collective agreement with the clinic management. The union is calling for more staff at the Charité on behalf of the employees. Because: the nursing staff at the Berlin University Hospital have to bear an extremely high workload. We spoke to Kalle Kunkel about the personnel situation and today's strike. He is Verdi's negotiator and was there during the strike.”Interview from August 8, 2017 on Radio Corax
  • See a good report about the ver.di action strike on August 8th at the Charité:Further strikes possible. Ver.di is relying on symbolic strike action to get collective bargaining with the Charité going
    Report by Katharina Schwirkus from August 9th, 2017 at ND online
  • DBfK: Support for the nurses in the Charité strike
    "... The actions of the ver.di union are strongly supported by the German Professional Association for Nursing Professions (DBfK) (...) Franziska Rahmel, Managing Director of DBfK Nordost, explains: "We support the justified demands of the Charité nurses for binding staffing. This primarily serves the well-being of patients and the health of nurses. Contracts must be adhered to." (...) The Bundestag will be elected in September 2017. This is a good reason to Candidates can be publicly asked online about their attitudes towards staffing in hospitals and elderly care facilities: there is a platform for this purpose: parliamentenwatch.de...” DBfK declaration of solidarity from August 8, 2017

• “20 houses are a good start” Nurse Grit Wolf about understaffed nursing stations, renewed fighting at the Charité and a spark that has ignited
  "... According to the Charité board, 200 full-time employees have been hired. However, there is no sense of relief. We are constantly understaffed, regularly do overtime or have to step in on a day off. Since July we have been negotiating the further development of the collective agreement on health protection, but are not making any progress. That's why we are now calling for a first warning strike. (...) The Charité refuses to conclude an emergency service agreement with ver.di, as was used in the last strikes. Therefore, for the time being only Individual representatives of the individual areas are supposed to be a warning shot. But our colleagues are already saying: We have to go on strike. (...) 20 hospitals are a good start. But I can only encourage everyone to join this collective bargaining movement. We have proven that you can stop work even in the sensitive care sector “The nursing shortage has been a much-discussed topic in the public since then.” Grit Wolf from the Charité's ver.di operations group in conversation with Ines Wallrodt at Neues Deutschland on August 4, 2017

• [Brochure] More of us is better for all! The fight for relief and health protection at the Berlin Charité 
  "The pressure has to go. The workload in the hospitals is unbearable. The employees are caring for more and more serious cases - with the same or even fewer staff. This cannot continue like this. (...) After almost four years of tireless work, many negotiations, protests and strikes, the "collective agreement on health" was signed at the Charité in 2016. For the first time, minimum staffing rules for areas in the hospital, primarily in nursing and functional services, as well as measures to counteract this In our view, this is a historic success - even if not all wishes and demands have been met. Experience since then has shown that the agreed minimum staffing levels in the wards and in the areas would bring about significant improvements - this is not the case so far. We are not calling for one more position - but effective sanctions that ensure that the agreements are adhered to Have we achieved what have we not? What forms of action and practices have proven successful? We also take a look back at the collective bargaining disputes in 2006 and 2011, from which some lessons can be learned...”From the foreword ofver.di brochure “More of us is better for everyone!” from June 2017 , Editors: Carsten Becker, Daniel Behruzi, Stephan Gummert, Meike Jäger, Kalle Kunkel, Dana Lützkendorf and Arnim ThoMass with download of the entire brochure

• The pioneers from the Charité
  “At the Berlin clinic, after several strikes, the nursing staff fought for a collective agreement with minimum staffing levels - an exemplary strike in a female-dominated professional field…”Slightly edited article by Nelli Tügel “Industrial disputes in female-dominated professional fields: The example of the hospital strike” from the Z. magazine Marxist Renewal No. 110 from June 2017 in the Junge Welt from June 14, 2017

• Personnel planning: Collective agreement at the Charité causes trouble
  "... The collective agreement on minimum staffing levels in nursing at the Berlin Charité University Hospital is in danger of failing. The Verdi union criticizes the fact that it is not being implemented. There are now signs of new collective conflicts. Almost a year after the conclusion of the collective agreement, which was celebrated as a "lighthouse" in Berlin politics, Verdi draws a disappointing conclusion: Since the contract came into force, over 200 reports of overload have been received from 30 wards and areas. Half of the normal wards lack at least one nurse, and in 30 percent the agreed minimum staffing levels are ten to 25 percent below. The number of night shifts fell by 20 instead of increasing by 40 as agreed. “Even if there was an increase in personnel, this was largely compensated for by the reduction in temporary workers,” said union secretary Kalle Kunkel. (…) “New negotiations are made more difficult by the fact that the Charité is planning to join the municipal employers’ association,” said Kunkel. Verdi welcomes the strengthening of area collective agreements. “But the KAV has forbidden its members to negotiate collective agreements like the one at the Charité,” Kunkel continued. The Berlin union is also not expecting any support from the federal level for the time being. The Berlin union does not want to wait for the minimum requirements for staffing in hospitals, as requested by the expert commission of the Federal Ministry of Health at the beginning of March...” Article by Angela Misslbeck and Christiane Badenberg from March 16, 2017 in the ÄrzteZeitung online

• Charité: Still understaffed? Ver.di accuses Charité of failing to implement the agreed staff increase
  "Almost a year ago - after several strikes - a collective agreement was signed at the Charité that set minimum standards for staffing. It was the first such collective agreement at a German hospital. To this day it is unique. In all parts of the republic, however, nursing staff have joined forces who are also striving for regulations à la Charité. In addition, the federal government reacted to the pressure and announced legal lower limits in "care-sensitive" hospital areas at the beginning of March (...) So you could say that the Charité is - like in the area of medical research - also ahead of its time in terms of collective bargaining policy. But there are huge problems with the implementation of the agreements on increasing staff, which is at least what the ver.di balance sheet presented on Wednesday said. According to union secretary Kalle Kunkel, there is a lack of at least one nursing staff. A third of the wards have between ten and 25 percent fewer nursing staff than planned Night shifts even fell by 20 positions…” Contribution by Nelli Tügel to Neues Deutschland from March 16, 2017

• The ballot at the Charité ends with a clear result: ver.di agrees to the collective agreement on health protection and minimum staffing
  “On April 25 and 26, 2016, the United Services Union (ver.di) surveyed its members at the Charité about the collective agreement on health protection and minimum staffing regulations in nursing. An overwhelming majority of 89.2 percent were in favor of concluding the tariff agreement. The ver.di board also approved the conclusion of the collective agreement. This means that a collective bargaining dispute that has lasted four years is finally coming to an end. (…) ver.di also continues to demand legal regulations for appropriate staffing in the hospital as well as adequate refinancing. The collective agreement applies to all of the approximately 14,000 employees at the Charité. “Press release from April 28, 2016 from and at ver.di Berlin-Brandenburg regional district . See
  • theSummary of the main results of the negotiations on TV health protection and minimum staffing
  • More staff for the Berlin University Hospital: The Charité is making collective bargaining history
    “For the first time this Friday, a collective agreement will be signed in a clinic that stipulates minimum staffing levels in the wards.
    The first collective agreement in Germany that stipulates binding staffing ratios for a clinic is being signed today at the Charité. This brings to an end one of the most unusual collective bargaining disputes in the country. After a heated dispute with the employees organized in Verdi, the university clinic will now employ more nursing staff: Internally, 220 new nurses are expected; so far, 4,300 nursing staff are working at the state-owned Charité. (…) Verdi negotiator Carsten Becker, himself a Charité nurse, said: The agreement is the first step in a nationwide movement for more staff - with the aim of legally regulating better hospital financing. Specifically, the tariff means: A nurse in the intensive care units cares for an average of two patients per shift; previously there were often up to five patients…”Article by Hannes Heine from April 28, 2016 in the Tagesspiegel online

• After the Charité management broke its word: new staff protests for binding staff allocation
  “The nursing staff want to ensure that it is bindingly stipulated how many colleagues are on duty on a ward during a shift - i.e. how many of them are responsible for which number of patients. The corresponding “health protection” collective agreement, which was hard fought for by the employees, should be ready to be signed on Friday. The hospital's supervisory board met for its regular meeting. But instead of the promised binding specifications, the clinic management presented the collective bargaining committee with a draft in advance in which each ward would no longer be taken into account individually and it would also not be guaranteed that the positions would be filled by qualified nursing staff. Instead, the hospital management would like so-called service staff to be included. The professional field is not precisely defined. In general, this refers to activities in areas away from the patient, such as the preparation of food“ – this is how the report begins“Profit on the backs of the nursing staff” by Claudia Wrobel on March 21, 2016 in Junge Welt about the resistance of a management that is proud of profits (and not of satisfied patients)

• Call for a rally on the occasion of the Charité supervisory board meeting
  In response to the blockade stance of the Charité leadership, the “ver.di Charité Alliance for more hospital staff” is calling for a rally on March 18th at 3:45 p.m. at the Friedrich Althoff Haus, Campus Mitte. Seever.di Charité Alliance on fratzebuch

• From the Charité to the whole country – strike in the hospital
  The topic of the workshop “Strikes and Resistance” as part of the “Socialism Days” in Berlin (ND Haus, Mehringplatz 1, behind the Ostbahnhof) on Saturday, March 26th, at 10:00 a.m. with Janine Balder (ver.di union secretary, responsible for Vivantes Klinikum Berlin) and Stephan Gummert (member of the ver.di operations group and strike leader at the Charité). See thisworkshop “Strikes and Resistance” on Sozialismustage.de

• The Charité is blocking
  "For eight months, ver.di and the management of the Berlin Charité University Hospital negotiated a collective agreement for more staff and health protection. There was agreement on almost all points. Nevertheless, the Charité leadership is now apparently intent on jeopardizing the project, which has received much attention nationwide: They also want to include so-called service staff and ward assistants in the minimum number of nursing staff. Ver.di, on the other hand, demands that the increase in personnel required by the collective agreement should only be achieved through skilled workers happens…” ver.di news health & social affairs from March 8, 2016

• “Service” instead of care. Charité University Hospital refuses to guarantee the promised minimum staffing of the wards with specialists. They are too expensive for her
  “Nursing training lasts three years - and that's without the necessary specialization. However, unspecified “service staff” can also take on the responsible work of these qualified specialists, at least if the management of Europe's largest university hospital, the Berlin Charité, has their way. On Thursday, ver.di reported that talks about the “health protection” collective agreement had stalled because the opposing side presented the union with this very proposal. Negotiations have been ongoing for eight months and were accompanied by a strike last year…”Article by Claudia Wrobel in Junge Welt from March 5th, 2016
  • In it: “…The attitude of the employees can be expressed in one sentence: "The increase in personnel in the individual wards required by the collective agreement may only be carried out by qualified specialist staff." The emerging conflict now reveals why it is wrong for health care places to be run with the expectation of profit…”
  • See also:The ball is rolling: Charité blocks collective agreement
    “The ver.di activists at the Berlin Charité were aware that it would be a lengthy and difficult dispute. For the first time, they want to fight for a collective agreement for more staff at a German hospital. In order to protect the health of employees and in the interest of good patient care. But the management of Europe's largest university hospital repeatedly relies on delays and blockages. (…) For ver.di, the Charité demand is naturally a breaking point - especially since the clinic management is not interested in establishing the status quo, but even in expanding low-skilled work. This may well have been calculated: Some of those responsible at the state-owned university hospital, despite all the lip service they pay, apparently still want to prevent a collective agreement for more staff from even being reached. You want to be a beacon in medical research and practice, but not in terms of good working conditions for employees…”Comment by Herbert Wulff in Junge Welt from March 5th, 2016

• “Strike at the Charité – More of us is better for everyone”
  A documentary about the Charité workers' strike (June 2015) by Theresa Hartmann, Max Rodermund and Gal Yaron Mayersohn. Dana Lützkendorf and Stephan Gummert, two active members of the ver.di operating group, will also have their say, as will ver.di secretary Kalle Kunkel and patient Martina Beyer. In 14 minutes, the most important experiences and lessons of the strike become clear...The video on YouTube . See our message from February 6, 2016:The genie is out of the bottle. The Berlin Charité is a role model: new strike movements are forming at clinics for relief collective agreements

• Rapprochement between Charité and ver.di: Successful conclusion of collective bargaining in sight
  “After long negotiations with the ver.di union, the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin has reached an encouraging interim result. The current result allows prospects of a successful conclusion. The aim of the discussions is to improve the working conditions of employees, especially nursing staff. Minimum standards should be introduced for these and staffing levels should be increased…”Charité press release from December 18, 2015 . See further information and reviews:
  • From the text of the PM: “…Although the goal has not yet been achieved, both sides have already reached an agreement on many issues, explained ver.di negotiator Meike Jäger in Berlin on the same day. There is extensive clarity about the introduction of minimum staffing standards in intensive care units. Depending on the intensity of care, the ratio between nursing staff and patients should be one to three, one to two or one to one. On average across all wards, one nurse should not be responsible for more than two patients. From January onwards, the ratio should no longer fall below one to three in any intensive care unit. (…)The crucial question in the negotiations is what happens if the requirements are not met. The experience with a first “short-term collective agreement” in 2014 has shown that promises from the Charité leadership are anything but reliable. The trade unionists at Europe's largest university hospital are therefore insisting on a binding, automated procedure that comes into play in the event of violations. The clinic management has now apparently agreed to this. “The Charité is now officially communicating that a coordinated response procedure, the so-called intervention cascade, will be introduced as a standard process in January,” said ver.di state department head Jäger. In overload situations, an attempt should first be made to find additional staff through the job pool or leasing staff. If this does not succeed, services should be reduced and, if necessary, beds closed. It is still unclear what will happen if this mechanism is not adhered to despite the agreement. According to the ideas of the ver.di activists, in this case the clinic would have to compensate the employees with additional free time and/or money…”
  • Charité: Collective agreement for more staff within reach
    “In the summer, Charité employees went on strike for eleven days to demand more staff. At the end there was a key agreement on the basis of which a collective agreement was to be formulated. After long negotiations, ver.di is now optimistic that a deal will be reached in January. The first improvements for employees are already in effect at the turn of the year. (…) If collective agreements for staffing can now be concluded in Germany, then in the future not only employees at hospitals, but perhaps also other areas of public services that are struggling with a glaring shortage of personnel, could strive for such collective agreements - and go on strike for them.”Article by Nelli Tügel from December 19, 2015 at Learning in Combat
  • Charité: On the home stretch
    Progress in collective bargaining for more staff. Berlin University Hospital wants to implement the first measures to relieve the burden on employees from January.Article by Daniel Behruzi in Junge Welt from December 19, 2015

• More of us is better for everyone. Jan Latza & Nadja Rakowitz on the strike for more staff at the Charité
  “You can only do good work - regardless of the area - if there are enough well-trained colleagues for the tasks to be completed. This applies not just in hospitals, but everywhere. The dispute over staffing was also described in express on the occasion of fights in retail or the IG BAU collective bargaining round for hotel cleaning crews. However, there is another specific problem in the healthcare system: If work cannot be done well and there are not enough colleagues, then this is bad for third parties, namely the patients. The inhumanity of capitalist rationing logic becomes immediately clear here. On June 22nd, an indefinite strike began at the largest university hospital in Europe, the Charité in Berlin. In this dispute, the employees do not want more money - although that is urgently needed - but rather more staff or a binding staffing ratio. Jan Latza and Nadja Rakowitz explain the background and describe the mood on site during the strike…”Article in express, newspaper for socialist company and trade union work, 6-7/2015

• ver.di and Charité agree on key points paper for a collective agreement on health and demography - strike is suspended
  “After ten days of strike and intensive negotiations, ver.di and the Charité board agreed on a key points paper on a collective agreement on health and demography. Operations will resume fully with early morning service on Friday, July 3, 2015. ver.di and Charité have agreed to establish regulations to reduce the workload in all work areas. The collective agreement should contain a catalog of measures to remedy stressful work situations. Criteria are defined for all professional groups that are used to identify stress. A quota should be set for the intensive care units and the children's clinic. Minimum staffing standards should also apply to normal care. If the employees report a stressful situation and the minimum staff standards are not met, the Charité should be obliged by collective agreement to take measures to relieve the burden. This also expressly includes restrictions on the volume of work…”Press release from July 2nd, 2015 at ver.di Berlin-Brandenburg district . See also:
  • theCharité press release from July 1, 2015 Strike at the Charité is suspended. Key points established
  • Movement in the Charité strike
    “At the strike meetings at the Charité on Wednesday, a key points paper for better staffing at the clinic was presented. A final agreement between the collective bargaining parties is still pending. (…) At the three locations, the mood among colleagues was positive after members of the collective bargaining committee presented the agreement, even though fears were expressed several times that the Charité could undermine the agreements in the future. This Thursday at 11 a.m., Charité employees want to demonstrate together with postal strikers in front of the Reichstag. “We want to exercise mutual solidarity, but also send a signal to politics,” said Dana Lützkendorf, the ver.di strike leader at the Mitte campus. The first reading of the Hospital Structure Act will take place in the Bundestag this Thursday. Regardless of the progress at the Charité, ver.di wants to continue to draw attention to the grievances at German clinics…”Article by Nelli Tügel from July 2nd, 2015 at ND online

• Solidarity from all sides
  Patient representatives and doctors support the strike by nurses at the Berlin Charité for minimum staffing.Report by Claudia Wrobel in Junge Welt from July 2nd, 2015

• Collective bargaining conflict at Post AG and at the Charité: human chain around the Bundestag on July 2nd, 2015
  “Under the motto “It’s five to twelve - take politics to task!” A total of around 3,000 strikers from Deutsche Post AG and the Charité will start an action around the Reichstag tomorrow, Thursday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Both groups of employees see the federal government as having a political responsibility for ensuring optimal care for the population in both the health and postal systems and also for ensuring socially acceptable and reasonable working conditions in these areas…”Call from July 1st, 2015 by and at ver.di Berlin-Brandenburg regional district

• “Intensive” conversations at the Charité. Employers and union continue to negotiate / strike goes into second week
  “The strike by nursing staff at Europe's largest university hospital is entering its second week. On Monday morning, the clinic board and ver.di sat down at the table again. Results are not yet known. (…) Despite the “intensive” discussions between the collective bargaining parties, the labor dispute among nursing employees continued. The nursing staff strike entered its second week on Monday. Ver.di expected that more than 1,000 of the university hospital's total of 3,000 beds could not be occupied. Union secretary Kunkel said 200 operations would continue to be canceled every day. An agreed emergency service also ensured patient care on Monday…”Article by Martin Kröger from June 30, 2015 in the ND online

• “More of you is better for everyone!” Doctors show solidarity with the strikers at the Charité and join the ver.di union.
  “The nurses' strike at the Berlin Charité is entering its second week. Almost 1,000 beds in Germany's largest university hospital have been on strike for 7 days now. According to statements from the Charité board, around 200 operations have to be canceled per strike day. The nurses are not striking for more money but for clear personnel regulations. With this strike, 24 doctors and medical professionals are now showing solidarity and joining the ver.di union together and publicly…”Press release from June 30, 2015 by the vdää to the collective ver.di entry of 24 doctors in solidarity with the strikers at the Charité and therein public call for entry to ver.di with signatories: “…Adequate staffing in nursing will also improve the working conditions of all other professional groups in the hospital - the strikers and ver.di also represent our interests as doctors in the hospital. On the other hand, we do not want to be represented by a purely medical union that, almost without the public's knowledge, negotiated a collective agreement with the Charité while the nurses were fighting for their right to strike, which primarily includes salary increases for the higher medical professional groups. In contrast to the demands of the striking nursing staff, this collective bargaining agreement reached by the Marburger Bund for doctors does not lead to better working conditions for all professional groups in the hospital nor to higher patient safety. These and other collective agreements negotiated by the Marburger Bund are instead at the expense of the nurses with whom we care for patients together…”

• Offer of discussion at the Charité / State Labor Court: Nursing staff are allowed to continue striking - employers lost in appeal proceedings
  "Both sides in the collective bargaining dispute between the Charité and the nursing staff were called upon by the State Labor Court on Wednesday to enter into negotiations quickly; this should happen with an offer from the employer side as early as this Thursday. The strikers were warned to continue to take suggestions and advice from the doctors seriously within the framework of the clearing house. "The court really weighed up the arguments of both sides. Ultimately, we were able to make it clear that we are not going too far with the strike and that we are treating the lives of patients responsibly," said ver.di negotiator Meike Jäger after the appointment…” Article by Ulrike Henning in New Germany online from June 25, 2015

• “Vitamin C Extra”:Strike – Let’s do it!?See thisthe dossier for the company leaflet of the Socialist Workers' Voice at the Charité

• Operation Strike is underway at the Charité
  “The nursing team at ward M202a can no longer be responsible for this work situation,” the nurses at Berlin’s Charité University Hospital wrote to their superiors in March 2014. One nurse cares for 12 patients during the day and even 22 at night: “The patient care falls by the wayside.” There are stacks of letters like this on the table at the Charité management…” Report by Jörn Boewe and Johannes Schulten at Ver.di from June 2015

• Pictures from the strike demonstration on June 23rd. Photo collection by Uw