On November 29, the employees of the International School Hamburg (ISH) were on a warning strike starting at 3:00 pm.
The reason for this is that the colleagues have not received a salary increase since 2019. For too many years, the financial planning of ISH has not taken into account the welfare of the employees and salaries have decreased by more than 10% in the last five years.
ISH teachers have turned to their union, the GEW, for support (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft). The GEW is demanding an in-house collective bargaining agreement for ISH, which in the first step will regulate the terms of compensation, as well as an increase in pay based on the collective bargaining agreement, retroactive to 1/1/22.
Since May 2022, the ISH board has refused to enter into collective bargaining with the GEW-Hamburg. Neither the old nor the current school management is willing to talk. Even a first protest action outside working hours showed no effect.
With today's 1.5 hour warning strike and a rally in front of the school gate, the GEW members of ISH have shown that they are serious.
“Since 2019, you ISH employees have not received a pay raise. However, you continue to do a great job and work diligently for the benefit of your students. Since May 2022, your employer has refused to enter into collective bargaining with GEW-Hamburg. Our first protest action outside working hours showed no change in the attitude of the board. On the contrary, now they are trying to bait you with a three-year plan and keep you from your justified demand for a collective agreement” (Birgit Rettmer, GEW).
The GEW demands
- An in-house collective agreement that regulates the remuneration conditions at ISH as a first step.
- An increase in employee compensation based on the collective bargaining agreement retroactive to 1/1/22.
„We hope that the employer will now give in - otherwise we have no choice and will have to extend our strike actions.“