Trade unions | Berlin: Unionhilfswerk without a collective agreement

Bringing their industrial dispute to the public: Union aid workers in front of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Academy. Photo: Peter Nowak »CDU: Can’t deal with Unions? (Can't you deal with unions?)« Employees of the Unionhilfswerk (UHW) confronted their employer and the conservative party close to him on Friday morning with the question that a woman had written on a sign. At the same time, the UHW organized a specialist conference on palliative geriatrics for dignified aging and dying at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Academy.

UHW employees have been fighting for a collective agreement for several months. The social agency, which organizes the care and support of older people, young people and the mentally ill, has 800 employees and numerous volunteers.

At the beginning of the conference, around 30 people confronted the participants with the blockade attitude that they accused the UHW leadership of. The fight for a collective agreement at the CDU-affiliated aid organization is being led jointly by the Verdi and GEW unions. »We are working at the limit and without collective bargaining security. The fact that the Unionhilfswerk is refusing collective bargaining is no longer acceptable," said an employee who is a member of the Verdi collective bargaining commission.

On April 30, 2026, the unions had already asked the UHW to begin collective bargaining. The categorical rejection took place on the same day, as stated in the chronicle of the collective bargaining battle on Verdi's website. The first warning strike took place on June 8th. The UHW had tried in vain to legally stop him. Because there was still no willingness to negotiate, the second warning strike took place on July 2nd. Afterwards, the collective bargaining battle was taken to a new level. From September 9th to 11th there was a strike lasting several days and a demonstration by the CDU office in the Berlin House of Representatives.

»We are working at the limit and without collective bargaining security.«

Verdi secretary Ivo Garbe complained to »nd« about Union-busting methods. Employees who are active in unions were put under pressure with threats of dismissal. In addition, management assured employees in an email of a “strike attendance bonus” of 50 euros per strike day for the three-day strike at the beginning of September, provided they did not take part in the work stoppage. According to Ivo Garbe, the UHW is working with the lawyer Ralf Vogt. According to his law firm's website, Vogt has experience "particularly in concluding or preventing collective agreements."

Garbe sees the CDU as responsible here. »The UHW's anti-union stance is particularly explosive because the UHW board is dominated by CDU members. The chairman of the board of the foundation, Michael Dietmann, sat in the House of Representatives for the CDU from 1996 to 2026," said Garbe. He recalled that in the current coalition agreement, the SPD and CDU committed themselves to strengthening collective bargaining. “Nevertheless, there has so far been no discernible activity on the part of the CDU leadership to advocate for an end to the blockade attitude towards the UHW,” complained Garbe. 

»As part of collective bargaining autonomy, neither parties, parliamentary groups nor governments bear responsibility for collective agreement negotiations. This is solely the responsibility of the employer and employee representatives,” a spokeswoman for the UHW clarified in response to the inquiry.

“Tariff autonomy is a major achievement of our social market economy and an important instrument for fair, good working conditions and a balanced balance of interests,” the spokeswoman continued. At the same time, she emphasized that a modern working world requires sufficient flexibility to meet the different conditions and needs of individual companies.

Verdi and GEW are calling for a conclusion at the level of the collective agreement for public sector employees in the federal states (TV-L). »A takeover of the TV-L is not economically viable for the Unionhilfswerk Sozialinstitution gGmbH, particularly due to the current daycare financing of the State of Berlin, because the daycare financing only provides for 95 percent refinancing of the TV-L level. In addition, there is a significant undercoverage of material costs," said the UHW spokeswoman, explaining the refusal to meet the demands of employees and unions. She refers to an offer that the UHW management submitted in April. It would improve working conditions while guaranteeing the company's economic stability. 

Ivo Garbe explained to “nd” that the offer was made to the works council. His union immediately suggested classifying the contents of the offer as a first step. But the UHW did not respond to this. The union is left out. The works council is hotly contested. With seven out of 13 seats, the union members only have a narrow majority. Further protests are expected to follow if the UHW does not come to the negotiating table immediately.

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