GEW calls for a three-day warning strike in Berlin schools

At the beginning of June, classes in Berlin’s schools were again threatened – this time even for several days. The Federation for Education and Science (GEW) has called on teachers, social workers and school psychologists to continue warning strikes on June 6, 7 and 8, it announced Monday.

According to her own statements, she wants to emphasize her demands for smaller classes and a separate collective agreement on health protection.

Before the election, the CDU spoke in favor of the Senate’s desire to hold talks with GEW about a collective agreement for the smaller classes, said GEW Berlin President Tom Erdmann. After the election, the CDU is now in charge, as it now holds both the finance and education departments. According to GEW, new Finance Senator Stefan Evers (CDU) has yet to respond to the call for collective bargaining.

The Senate Finance Ministry said on Monday about the request: “Berlin is a member of the collective agreement of the federal states, and therefore we will not be able to accommodate the request for a ‘special collective agreement. It is always worth looking for ways to improve teaching and learning conditions together.

The old Senate repeatedly pointed out that Berlin – like all other federal states except Hesse – belonged to the collective bargaining community of the German states (TdL). Without their consent, Berlin cannot begin collective bargaining over class size. TdL rejects such negotiations.

Since 2021, GEW has already orchestrated several warning strikes to its cause. Most recently, the union called teachers and social workers for a two-day warning strike at the end of March.

There are about 34,000 teachers in Berlin, many of whom are employees who – as opposed to civil servants – are allowed to strike. Thousands of teachers have taken part in previous warning strikes, and some lessons have been canceled.

Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, May 22, 2023 at 4:22 p.m.