Because more daycare centre staff is better for everyone - strike and strike support at Berlin daycare centres

The strike by daycare centre employees in the state of Berlin's own daycare centres is making waves. The employees are fighting for a collective agreement on "pedagogical quality and relief", which is intended to improve the situation for employees and children, in particular through better staffing levels. After several warning strikes, 91.7% of those organised in ver.di and 82% in GEW voted in favour of an indefinite enforced strike on 19 September. This was prohibited by the Berlin Labour Court at first instance. ver.di does not accept the reasoning that the collective bargaining community of the federal states prohibits the federal state of Berlin from concluding a collective agreement to relieve the burden and that the obligation to maintain peace applies because there are allowances in the current collective agreement that can be understood as a relief measure: an allowance cannot constitute an urgently needed relief measure and internal agreements in "employer" associations should not restrict the right of the union to advocate a collective agreement. Ver.di will therefore lodge an appeal with the regional labour court.

In any case, this development shows how much support there is among organised employees for a strike and how strong the Senate's resistance is. Given this state of affairs, the event group of the Care Revolution network, together with Solidarisch Sorgen e.V., hosted an event at which we spoke to those involved in the labour dispute: Kathrin, a daycare centre worker on strike with 12 years of professional experience, Hannah, ver.di organiser and Mascha, co-founder of the solidarity-based parents' initiative "Unicorn seeks education". We would like to reproduce a few key statements below:

Kathrin described how organised employees approached ver.di with the desire to advocate for a change in the conditions that make it impossible for them to fulfil their educational mandate. In some cases, as was very impressively described and confirmed by the audience, not even adequate supervision is possible, children do not receive the attention they need, groups are distributed to others due to a lack of staff. In addition, the workload has an impact on the health of the daycare centre staff and makes it increasingly difficult to approach the children in a balanced manner - both in the daycare centre and at home after work. To remedy this situation, the childcare workers began talking to politicians and wrote risk reports. The strike was the last remaining option for them after all this dripped off the Senate.

Some of the demands were made clear: "We are not asking for much, just the minimum to do our job well." 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. Violations of the agreed staffing ratios should also not remain without consequences.

Many readers will recognise the parallels with the wage disputes in hospitals. Here is another: the strikers are countering the argument that there are not enough skilled staff to improve the staffing ratio: Firstly, if conditions were better, many would go from part-time to currently barely sustainable full-time or return to the profession. Secondly, if nothing improves, the skills gap will continue to widen.

Kathrin also emphasised how cohesion develops in the strike, how the necessary supportive relationships are formed to withstand the pressure from the Senate and the media. It is so important not to remain alone with uncertainty, indignation or despair.

Part of the pressure also comes from the fact that parents are very ambivalent about the strike. Mascha explained the reasons for this: they know that their own children are not yet likely to benefit from improvements in pay, but that these will only gradually take effect. In particular, they are also under pressure, which is exacerbated by the strike. However, she explains, in view of the cancellations in normal operations, parents are always stepping in anyway. Experience shows that it is mainly women who step in when daycare centres are cancelled. Reliable, high-quality daycare centres are therefore a key prerequisite for achieving a more balanced distribution of paid work and housework.

Here and throughout the event, it became clear that the collective bargaining battle is in the interests of everyone - employees, children and parents. This is another reason why solidarity is needed: the speakers called for people to write emails to the Senate, send letters of solidarity, make solidarity videos, talk to neighbours and colleagues! You can find information and suggestions here or here.