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Time and time again it is argued that nurses in Germany should not only be shown more appreciation, but that their work should also be better rewarded. Now an initiative that aims to achieve just that is entering the home stretch.
Geriatric nurses in Germany could in the future receive an hourly wage of € 18.50. The Ver.di union has reached an agreement with one of the employers’ associations, the Federal Association of Employers of the Care Industry (BVAP), on the corresponding collective agreement. And that’s not all.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants to extend the regulations to the entire industry in Germany if possible. However, many private backers still vehemently oppose the project because they avoid the higher costs.
The collective agreement between Ver.di and BVAP is scheduled to come into effect on July 1, 2021. As of January 2023, qualified geriatric nurses should receive at least 18.50 euros per hour, 3137 euros gross per month with 39 weekly hours. Nursing assistants without training receive at least 14.15 euros and those with one to two years of training receive at least 15 euros per hour.
“That’s a decent minimum standard, which of course leaves the best collective agreements intact,” said Sylvia Bühler, a member of the Ver.di board. “As an employer we reached the limit of pain,” said BVAP board member Gero Kettler.
Former Minister Brüderle opposes the idea
Heil said: “Now it is up to the other providers in the care sector to clear the way for the conclusion of the collective agreement and thus indirectly also for a request to extend the collective agreement for all employees.” The churches are still on the move, and they are set to do so. If a corresponding application is available and has been verified successfully, the regulations will be declared binding for the entire industry, Heil says.
The resistance to this plan is led by the president of the bpa employer’s association, Rainer Brüderle, former minister of Economy of the FDP. Criticizes that the agreement between Ver.di and BVAP only affects a “minimal minority” and, therefore, should not “determine the autonomy of collective bargaining of the majorities.”
The bpa had already criticized the BVAP for being too small to enter into long-range contracts. Thomas Greiner, president of the Care Employers’ Association, also criticized: “The state wants to set wages that are really a matter for the parties to collective bargaining.”
