On Monday 26 September, hundreds of doctors at university medical clinics across the country began a series of two-hour strikes, ahead of negotiations starting on Thursday 29 September with the wage commission of the federal states (TdL) in Berlin. Doctors at the Heart Centre Munich and the Hannover Medical University started the action in support of the doctors’ union Marburger Bund (MB) in an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions. MB demands for about 20,000 doctors a 5% wage increase, a modern pay structure and better pay for night shifts, jointly 6.3% wage rise. Another concern for the MB is the growing number of vacancies at the university clinics as qualified doctors seek better options elsewhere. This trend will increase if working conditions and salary prospects do not improve, according to MB wage expert Lutz Hammerschlag.
English: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20110926-37837.html
This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2011.