Solidarity with the striking day-care centre workers in Berlin!

For decades, neoliberal politics has knowingly accepted the underfunding of social infrastructure, no matter who is in government at the time. This also affects daycare centres, with the expected consequences. Firstly for parents: According to a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, there is a shortage of 430,000 daycare places,[1] but also for employees: according to ver.di, there is already a shortage of 20,000 skilled workers for the places currently available.[2] This shortage is making people ill. In its Psychreport 2024, the DAK states: "Wherever people look after the well-being of others in their everyday work and there is also a shortage of staff, the stress levels are particularly high. In 2023, employees in daycare centres and in geriatric care had the most days of sick leave (for mental health reasons) per 100 insured persons, at 534 and 531 days respectively."[3] Illness, stress-related part-time work and redundancies in turn increase the shortage of skilled workers.

The daycare centre employees of the five municipal daycare centres in Berlin have now decided to pull the ripcord: Since 5 June, they have been on and off strike for a collective agreement on pedagogical quality and relief, most recently for five days in a row from 8 to 12 July. The aim is to achieve a better quality of work and care - in the interests of employees as well as children and parents - primarily through improved staffing levels, as has been achieved on the nursing wards of many large hospitals. Approximately 7,000 educational staff are employed in the childcare centres, around 20% of childcare workers in Berlin.[4] Almost half of those employed there are taking part in the strike. In addition to an improved staff-child ratio, key demands include the inclusion of sick days and training days in the staffing ratio, emergency plans and an end to the inclusion of trainees in the staffing ratio.

They are coming under massive pressure: Finance Senator Evers speaks of "senseless strikes on the backs of children and parents"[5], the management of four of the five city-regionally organised municipal companies have launched a petition against the strike on change.org. They are putting forward arguments that have already been proven wrong in the case of the hospital strikes: One is that the users* of the facilities would be hit. The hospital workers countered this killer argument by pointing out that health hazards are the norm. It is undoubtedly true that parents and children will be affected by the strike. This is precisely why broad support for the strike is important in order to achieve success quickly. The strike is not being held for the fun of it - although we wish the strikers many happy moments - but because without it nothing will change. A second central argument is that health protection can either not be regulated at all or not in a collective labour agreement. Yes, it can: hospital companies have demonstrated this, for example the municipal Vivantes clinics in Berlin, which have concluded a collective agreement for precisely this purpose.

The co-circle of the Care Revolution network wants to express its solidarity with the striking employees. Hence the letter below:

Dear struggling daycare centre workers,

We, the coordinating group of the Care Revolution network, wholeheartedly support your demand for a collective agreement on pedagogical quality and relief. Together with you, we see the need to emphasise this demand through a strike and thank you for your commitment!

The increasing overload is leading to frustration, exhaustion and an increasing number of mental illnesses and is exacerbating the shortage of skilled labour due to trained professionals leaving the profession, which not only affects employees but also the children in their care. You say "Enough is enough!" and demand a collective agreement on pedagogical quality and relief.

The expected hostility is coming from the Senate as the opponent of the collective agreement and a large proportion of the management of the in-house operations. However, it is almost tragic when parents who are in trouble because of your strike withdraw their support.

We can see this: For many parents, the double burden of job and family work is already difficult to cope with when daycare centres are open; they need more rather than less relief. However, we have learned from the striking hospital workers, who, like you, have now been massively criticised for their strikes, that it is not the strike that is dangerous to health, but the normal situation in hospitals. Similarly in your strike: understaffing is detrimental to the development and enjoyment of life of the children you look after, not the attempt to change this through industrial action when all other avenues are blocked!

Ultimately, the attacks are a confirmation for you: If five days of continuous strike action is labelled an unreasonable burden, it shows how important and indispensable your work is. Working conditions that do not make people ill, sufficient time for further training, education, time for learning and not a source of cheap labour - your demands, if they were met, would help the children as well as the parents, who ultimately also want daycare centres where their children are in good hands. What applies to nurses in hospitals also applies to educational professionals: "More of you is better for everyone!"

Two basic assumptions are part of the consensus of our Care Revolution network. Firstly: The needs of people who care for others are systematically ignored, regardless of whether they do this at work, in families or as "volunteers". This is unacceptable in such a rich country - a country with so many rich people. We need a needs-based social infrastructure that is accessible to all! Enforcing its financing is a major joint task.

Secondly, as paid and unpaid care workers, we only have a chance of making a difference if we stick together and support each other in our struggles. Therefore: Dear strikers, thank you very much! Hang in there! And: Dear Berliners with and without children, please support the strike - your interests are at stake too!

The coordination group of the Care Revolution network, 18.07.2024

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[1] https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/de/themen/aktuelle-meldungen/2023/november/mehr-plaetze-und-bessere-qualitaet-in-kitas-bis-2030-wenn-jetzt-entschlossen-gehandelt-wird

[2] https://www.verdi.de/themen/arbeit/++co++35e164b8-6e81-11ee-95e3-001a4a160129

[3] https://www.dak.de/dak/unternehmen/reporte-forschung/psychreport-2024_57364#rtf-anchor-deutliche-unterschiede-zwischen-einzelnen-branchen-und-berufsgruppen

[4] https://erziehung-bildung-sozialearbeit-bb.verdi.de/tarifkampagne

[5] https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/sinnlosstreiks-auf-dem-rucken-der-kinder-und-eltern-senat-ohne-verstandnis-fur-funftagigen-warnstreik-in-berliner-kitas-11980349.html