Hello, I'm Lukas,
a nurse at the Urban Hospital in Kreuzberg.
Today marks the start of the hospital strike
in Berlin and across the country.
We are on the streets to demand better working conditions.
Everything is getting more expensive.
People say there is no money, but there is money.
We want the promises to be kept
and that we are also shown the respect
that we deserve.
My demands are
the same as those of Ver.di: €350 more pay,
three more days of work and there is no offer.
We feel like we're being made fun of.
We are from Vivantes, not from Charité,
but we stand side by side with our colleagues from CFM.
Public sector collective agreement for everyone on the Spree!
We are going on strike, because our wages are not...
have not increased in five years.
We have had the same wages for five years.
And what do you do?
At Charité cleaning.
I would like our wages a bit higher.
It's not enough.
Because everything has gone up in price two or three times over the last 5 years.
Everything.
I'm Marcel,
I'm a refrigeration engineer at the Charité Mitte campus.
And today we have our big strike demonstration,
because we have already had two rounds of negotiations with the employer, CFM.
CFM has been outsourced since 2006.
That's all the non-medical services at the Charité.
And it was outsourced so that we would not get the public sector collective agreement.
We are paid significantly less, sometimes up to €700 less.
We demand the public sector collective agreement.
We have now had two days of negotiations,
we have not received an offer.
And now we will fight for what is rightfully ours.
We want to have the public sector collective agreement at 100%.
Today is the first day of the strike
and I am sure that this will not be the last one.
The Berlin Senate has repeatedly promised us the public sector collective agreement.
It is currently even in the coalition agreement,
but nothing is happening.
They delay their promises and duck out all the time.
The colleagues have demanded an inflationary adjustment of €3,000.
They only got 116 € and that of course
also makes the colleagues furious.
And I think you can see that today in the turnout figures.
The people are here, the street is full,
we are many, many people,
who are on strike today and are really annoyed.
We are pretty angry because at the last round of negotiations,
we were offered a three-year wage freeze
and that is of course not acceptable.
And the negotiations will continue next week, from the 14th.
We will go on strike again next week.
Three days.
The colleagues at BSR
are on strike from today until next Friday.
We have to increase the pressure on the employers to ensure
that our work is properly paid.
And we will not be fobbed off with a pay freeze under any circumstances.
Who is the union?
We!
I work for CFM as an ambulance driver here at the Charité
in Mitte and I'm here because the wages are just completely fucked.
Everything is getting more expensive,
you have to count every penny.
It can't be true that you earn basically nothing!
You don't feel appreciated, not at all.
You wear yourself out and get nothing.
In the end, it's just always measured with two jugs:
the people at the Charité are paid more,
don't have to work as much, finish earlier or start later,
and in the end we work with those same colleagues every day.
And it's just sad and also a shame to see it the way it is.
Yes, and without us nothing works.
If the ambulance drivers aren't there,
then the people don't get the patients.
This is the whole team,
the ambulance drivers, bed preparation,
and every day we are also confronted with these diseases and we push
these beds with these sick people sometimes from A to B,
without knowing what kind of sick patients we are pushing there
and are also exposed to these diseases every day.
Yes, I'm here.
Because I want to support the strike of the hospital workers
and the CFM workers.
I live in the neighborhood and I think it's important
that we as neighbors also show solidarity.
So, according to the motto: you for us and we for you.
They say that there is no money
and I think...
There is this, debt brake.
And then they say all the time,
they have to save, they have to save.
However, money, as you can see,
there is money for the army, there is money for everything.
We are one of the most prosperous countries, but there's no money for us.
For us, who keep the hospital running every day,
who are so important for public services,
for the Charité and for the people in this city,
that they simply have good health care.
Due to the fact that we are now such a mass,
we hope that these so-called politicians,
who play with public money,
also have a little money for the people
who keep the wheel turning here at the Charité.
Otherwise, we are really forced to take other measures
or find another job, because I'm not up for it anymore,
I have to say honestly.
You wear yourself out...
You're at home, don't feel like doing anything
sitting on the couch,
you're exhausted, your feet hurt, your body hurts, everything hurts.
And what do you get?
You only get a kick up the arse. That's just not on.
We're just human, full stop.
Whether it's people in higher places or us,
when we cut ourselves, we all bleed red. Full stop.
We are all the same.
And when they all talk about equal rights, then please!!!
There's no need to be surprised
that people are ‘sick’ because they've had enough.
It just doesn't work anymore.
Now I have to slowly make some changes. All kinds of things.
There are thousands of genders accepted, etc.,
but the basics have to be right too!
And that people are becoming more and more aggressive.
You just have to listen to them,
only grumble when people grumble, that's nonsense.
You just have to look at why people are complaining.
And how long have people been complaining?
And it's a shame that they're playing with the health of the patients.
You're always in a moral conflict: if you go on strike here,
you're not there, you can't move the patients.
It's always like that a conflict of conscience,
you have to carry around with you every day.
It's sad that you have to do something like that at all,
and that you can't participate in public life
even if you go to work every day.
Charité, thank you very much
Backs round, pockets empty!
Charité, thank you very much
Back round, pockets empty!