Mainz (dpa / lrs) – The Verdi services union wants to expand the warning strikes at daycare centers in Rhineland-Palatinate and is therefore planning actions this Thursday and Friday in the Middle Rhine district. The cities of Mainz, Bad Kreuznach, Ingelheim, Bingen, Idar-Oberstein, Bad Ems, Boppard and the municipality of Weißenthurm were particularly affected by the warning strikes, as Verdi announced on Tuesday. Verdi expects a total of around 700 strikers. A demonstration by warning strikers in downtown Mainz (10 a.m.) is planned for this Thursday.
According to Verdi, most daycare centers in the municipalities mentioned will be completely closed all day. It could also be that employees in other cities and communities join the warning strikes. The trade union asked the parents for their understanding and recommended that, to be on the safe side, they should inquire at their respective facility whether it was also affected by the strike and closed.
Verdi had also already called for warning strikes for this Wednesday and Thursday in the Palatinate. For the cities of Dudenhofen, Frankenthal, Kaiserslautern, Landau, Ludwigshafen, Neuhofen, Pirmasens, Speyer, Schifferstadt, Worms and Zweibrücken, Verdi expected a total of 600 to 700 participants in campaigns. A demonstration through the city center is also planned for Wednesday in Ludwigshafen.
On Thursday and Friday, employees in a total of around 160 facilities in the Trier area and in Saarland should stop working, as Verdi further announced. In addition, there will be demonstrations in Saarbrücken on Thursday. The trade union GEW is also calling for all-day work stoppages in the Rhineland-Palatinate municipalities and at the Protestant Church of the Palatinate for Thursday.
The background to this is the wage dispute between the trade unions and the union of municipal employers’ associations. The nationwide wage negotiations are to be continued on May 16th and 17th in Potsdam. Verdi and the GEW are calling for improvements in working conditions, measures to counter the shortage of skilled workers and a higher classification of employees. Nationwide, the collective agreement affects around 330,000 people.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220510-99-229029/2
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