Collective bargaining: Mayor Schwenke accepts signatures from employees

In order to emphasize their demands, the city's general staff council, the individual staff councils and ver.di union representative Behrad Ghofrani handed over a list of signatures to Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke. Even before the first round of collective bargaining, employees in the federal and local government sector (VKA) began to document their support for the union's demands. Around 8,000 signatures have now been collected in the district. Mayor Schwenke emphasized the importance of the trade unions and explained: "Trade unions are indispensable, because without them no one would represent the interests of the employees. It goes without saying that I will therefore accept these 8,000 signatures. Good working conditions don't happen by themselves - they need commitment and clear negotiations." Among other things, Ver.di is demanding a pay rise of eight percent, but at least 350 euros more per month, as well as higher bonuses for stressful tasks. The second round of negotiations for the approximately 2.5 million employees in the public sector was held at the beginning of the week. If no agreement is reached, negotiations will enter the third round in mid-March.