Labor law | Unionhilfswerk: Two hearts for a collective agreement

Rally of Union Relief Organization employees protesting in front of the House of Representatives. Photo: dpa/Carsten Koall At around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, cheers erupted in the largest meeting room of the Berlin Labor Court. The judge had announced that the Berliner Unionhilfswerk's application to remove the two long-standing company members Esra Çakmaz-Lahusen and Gabriele Tropf from their positions would not be granted. As soon as this decision was announced, the two women were hugged by many people.

Verdi regional district manager Andrea Kühnemann welcomed the court decision. “It is a new form of escalation when unpleasant works council members are to be removed from office,” she said. Kühnemann also sees the CDU as responsible. »CDU members have significant influence in the Union aid organization. You must now use this influence to stop management’s anti-codetermination practices.”

"It is a new form of escalation if unpleasant works council members are to be removed from their positions."

Almost 100 colleagues, not only from the Union Relief Organization, came to the court to support the process in solidarity. Quite a few had put on vests from the Verdi service union or the German Federation of Trade Unions. Many had already gathered together with Charité employees at 9 a.m. this Thursday for a strike rally in front of the Berlin House of Representatives. The Charité University Hospital had terminated the collective agreement to relieve the burden on employees, which stipulates minimum staffing levels in the wards. The employees see this as a declaration of war. They demand that the termination of the contract be withdrawn within six days. If the Charité allows this deadline to pass, an indefinite industrial dispute should begin.

The Unionhilfswerk employees took part in the strike rally with their own demands. Solidarity with the threatened works council members played a central role. “We stand with Esra and Gaby,” read one sign. It was worn at the demonstration that led from the House of Representatives to the Labor Court. At a rally before the trial began, numerous employees spoke about the protracted fight for a collective agreement in the CDU-affiliated Union Relief Fund. The protesters described their position on their T-shirts: “We are pioneers for the Unionhilfswerk and the Charité.” Two pink hearts were emblazoned above them, which were supposed to represent the two DGB unions Verdi and GEW. “Two hearts for a collective agreement,” it said.

Memories of the Berlin hospital movement of 2021 are brought back as trade unions and social groups support the demands of nursing workers. “It was the first time I was a solidarity companion in a labor court case,” reported a member of the Education and Science Union. “It gave me interesting insights and, most importantly, I had a lengthy conversation with several colleagues with whom I have been working for a long time for the first time.”

In another case on Wednesday, the labor court had already rejected the application by the Unionhilfswerk to set up an arbitration board to adjust the company agreement on remuneration. The conciliation board is obviously not responsible because the works agreement has not been terminated. The reasoning was that a conclusively regulating works agreement blocks the jurisdiction of an arbitration board on the same topic for the period of its validity.

The legal successes are important milestones for the unionized employees. But they know that their fight for a collective agreement is far from won. On Thursday, the Unionhilfswerk's lawyer made it clear in court that the confrontational course is not over. He assumed that the two works council members might want to derive personal benefits from a collective agreement because their earnings would then also increase. That was the moment when discontent became audible in the room. The lawyer insisted that the minutes of a works council meeting should be disclosed. This was intended to clarify whether the anonymous allegations that the two works council members provided false information about the works council's role in participating in a works agreement were true.

The Unionhilfswerk sets this works agreement against the demand of the Verdi union for a collective agreement. There is no uniform position on these issues in the works council. In addition to the Verdi list, there is another group on the committee.

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