1
00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,840
Hello, I'm Frauke,
I'm a nurse

2
00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,800
and I work in Leipzig
on the haematology ward.

3
00:00:16,890 --> 00:00:19,992
Strike at the university 
hospital in Leipzig 2023

4
00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,400
I remember 
that in 2023

5
00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,600
a colleague approached me if I want
to act as a 'wage ambassador'

6
00:00:27,988 --> 00:00:29,812
of our ward.

7
00:00:30,134 --> 00:00:33,720
And at first I thought, no,
I'm not really in the mood for it.

8
00:00:33,813 --> 00:00:35,440
And I'm sure there will
be more meetings,

9
00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:37,622
that are a bit boring,
a bit dull maybe.

10
00:00:37,684 --> 00:00:40,192
I had been a union
member for a while,

11
00:00:40,247 --> 00:00:43,960
but I never really got involved
or took much interest.

12
00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:45,400
And then

13
00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:48,560
I was on a short strike once
and it really got to me,

14
00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,533
because there were so many
committed colleagues

15
00:00:51,564 --> 00:00:54,480
and this fire
spread to me,

16
00:00:54,587 --> 00:00:58,000
and it gave me a
great deal of strength,

17
00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,330
to get to know these people
from the other wards,

18
00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,280
who also have
their ideals

19
00:01:04,342 --> 00:01:06,060
in mind

20
00:01:06,099 --> 00:01:10,729
and ... that it
doesn't break us...

21
00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,760
that this daily
dulling grind

22
00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,600
has not got this person down
and will not get me down either.

23
00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,080
That's how my
union work started

24
00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,120
and then for real also
with these strikes.

25
00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,171
To realise that when we
get actively involved,

26
00:01:24,226 --> 00:01:25,859
then we can also
make a difference.

27
00:01:25,905 --> 00:01:29,240
Our demands
were 10.5% more pay

28
00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,640
or at least €550.

29
00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,800
We were able to enforce these
demands relatively well.

30
00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,611
So we went out with
a pay increase,

31
00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:46,440
which was adjusted, so that
from November 2024,

32
00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,440
our base rate was
increased by €200

33
00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:55,320
and from February
2025 we are paid 5.5% more.

34
00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,200
We have also achieved
compensation for inflation

35
00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,640
of €3,000 for
full-time work,

36
00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:06,000
which was paid
out in tranches.

37
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,240
And then a reduction
in working hours.

38
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,480
We were able to achieve three
additional days off

39
00:02:14,582 --> 00:02:16,360
for the year 2024,

40
00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:20,424
which were at our free disposal, we
were allowed to plan them independently.

41
00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:26,280
For 2025, we have now
a 39.5-hour week

42
00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:32,360
plus two further additional days off
and a 38.5-hour week starting in 2026.

43
00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,058
So we have come a long
way with our demands.

44
00:02:37,215 --> 00:02:38,974
How was the strike organized?

45
00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:42,840
All the hospital staff
were very well involved.

46
00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,880
There was the election of so-called
collective bargaining ambassadors.

47
00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,520
These were ward-internal
representatives,

48
00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,080
who collected information
from the wards themselves,

49
00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,960
from the colleagues themselves, and who
fed those back into the strike organisation.

50
00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,800
In 2023, the strike participation
was higher than ever before.

51
00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:08,720
By way of comparison, at the last
round of collective bargaining in 2021,

52
00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,668
we had 150 strikers,
and now,

53
00:03:12,707 --> 00:03:16,440
at the collective bargaining round
of the federal states in 2023,

54
00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,200
we had 600.

55
00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,640
That was also the
busiest strike day.

56
00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:29,080
What remained from the strike?

57
00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,600
What remains is that we were able
to have this strike experience

58
00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:39,213
and that we carry a completely new
form of solidarity and a network

59
00:03:39,377 --> 00:03:41,682
amongst us.

60
00:03:41,791 --> 00:03:44,480
On the one hand,
friendships have developed.

61
00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,480
But also this experience, okay,
how can this actually work?

62
00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:52,360
In March, we have founded a group
at the university hospital

63
00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,280
to consolidate and
expand union work.

64
00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:01,160
Because we also realised that
during the strike

65
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,880
time was incredibly short,
because a lot of

66
00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:06,400
1:1 conversations
were held,

67
00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,039
which just took time and
sometimes lasted an hour.

68
00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,777
And so we are now trying little by
little to open up the university hospital

69
00:04:14,816 --> 00:04:17,480
to have more and
more conversations,

70
00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,667
to pass on all these
experiences and findings

71
00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,440
and to build this up over
a longer period of time,

72
00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:29,280
I think that's very realistic
and very necessary.

73
00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,435
Fighting for relief

74
00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,880
We have now mainly
fought for more pay,

75
00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:43,765
because it could be negotiated
within this collective agreement.

76
00:04:43,790 --> 00:04:45,704
But what we also
noted in the discussions

77
00:04:45,750 --> 00:04:47,680
with many colleagues
was actually

78
00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,879
that everywhere simply the
work burden or the work load

79
00:04:50,933 --> 00:04:52,400
plays a much
bigger role.

80
00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,680
And many have said, money is all well
and good, but I want more time.

81
00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,560
There are many colleagues here
who accrued a lot of overtime.

82
00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,200
And there is always the question of
when it should be taken off in lieu,

83
00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,868
because the system is designed
in such a way that various levels

84
00:05:07,915 --> 00:05:08,920
are under pressure.

85
00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:10,788
The team leaders
are under pressure.

86
00:05:10,835 --> 00:05:13,040
They would also like to say:
Stay at home tomorrow,

87
00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,360
but then there's
simply no one there.

88
00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,000
And yes, the
problem is simply

89
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,360
that this
basic problem

90
00:05:21,564 --> 00:05:24,480
has to be negotiated
in a much larger system

91
00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,320
And that is simply
what is felt every day,

92
00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:33,080
because understaffing is simply
the norm in many areas.

93
00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,960
It means that people
have a heavy workload

94
00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,960
are very stressed,

95
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,960
the quality of care suffers greatly
because things are neglected.

96
00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,883
On the one hand, things
like conversations.

97
00:05:48,953 --> 00:05:51,400
That sounds so basic,
but it is so important,

98
00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,987
because we also always
take care of people who are dying.

99
00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,080
And if I don't have time,
then I don't have time

100
00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,400
to care for dying people
or to talk with them about

101
00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,920
how they would like to die.
That's just not possible.

102
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:04,760
And that's a
big burden.

103
00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:06,640
Also mistakes
happen.

104
00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:08,200
The people
who made them

105
00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:10,522
have to deal with them.

106
00:06:10,623 --> 00:06:14,480
Who made them, understandably
perhaps, under time pressure.

107
00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,520
And yet that burden,
that guilt,

108
00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,320
stays on the shoulders
of the employees.

109
00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,800
We could go on strike for relief
under a collective agreement.

110
00:06:25,867 --> 00:06:28,240
But that would be a
new collective agreement.

111
00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,040
And for that we first need
a union strength,

112
00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,040
because the employer
will not want that.

113
00:06:34,838 --> 00:06:36,549
For example, there was

114
00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,560
such a movement in Berlin or
in North Rhine-Westphalia.

115
00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:43,680
They did it, they were
able to negotiate different

116
00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:45,960
collective agreements for relief

117
00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,640
And that is definitely a
big concern for employees

118
00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,400
and is now also on
the list of topics

119
00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:55,000
that we are
dealing with.

120
00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,080
That's why soon there
will be for example

121
00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,230
a discussion evening of
the hospital workers' group,

122
00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:03,815
during which we
exchange ideas

123
00:07:03,848 --> 00:07:07,368
with other colleagues, i.e.
from Berlin and Hannover,

124
00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,600
to learn more and
get more input for now.

125
00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:19,240
What we can do is, on the
one hand, good organising work,

126
00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:24,480
for example, this workers' group,
first of all, keep in touch

127
00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,400
with colleagues, and to pass
on these experiences.

128
00:07:28,460 --> 00:07:32,640
For example, when we fought
for our demands in 2023

129
00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,160
and stood up for
ourselves,

130
00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:38,120
we were successful
like never before.

131
00:07:38,260 --> 00:07:42,120
So we have really converted our
strength into a concrete result.

132
00:07:42,491 --> 00:07:45,171
And I think that
is the key.

133
00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:49,025
To convert all this
frustration and also despair

134
00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,560
among individual nursing
staff, or in the other areas,

135
00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:53,640
who are also
understaffed,

136
00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:57,800
into a force for action
and into self-activity.

137
00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,040
And in this realisation of: Okay,
this probably won't change now

138
00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:06,480
unless we show solidarity
and raise our voices together.