Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - Before the fourth round of negotiations between the Verdi union and the Frankfurt University Hospital this Friday, the negotiators on the hospital side are "fundamentally confident". The commercial director, Markus Jones, sees a match of around 90 percent with the demands of the union. The negotiations are not about money, but about relief for non-medical staff. The largest group of the approximately 4,000 employees to whom the relief package should apply are nursing staff.
"Our offer to Verdi would bring a noticeable relief for the employees," said Jones. The key point is a new system in which the workload of the nursing staff is recorded for each individual bed in each individual shift and the personnel requirements for a ward are determined on the basis of this. But it takes time to build this system ("PPR 2.0"), Jones said. It is scheduled to launch on July 1, 2023. According to Jones, Frankfurt would then be the first university clinic in Germany to record the real load according to "PPR 2.0" across the board and then control the shift staffing.
Other measures offered by the university hospital would take effect in the short term. The jumper pool is to be increased for colleagues who have failed. Those who register for this can choose their desired shifts. Another offer provides that employees can collect points for additional days off for stressful situations or be paid extra for them. The university clinic also stands by the "clear commitment" to only use temporary workers in absolute emergencies, said Nursing Director Birgit Roelfsema.
Jones said the number of non-medical staff should be increased by "double digits" as early as the fall. However, Verdi's demand - up to 500 new jobs - is "far away from what is affordable". The number of trainees is also set to increase significantly. Instead of the current 50, there will be 100 to 150 trainees per year in the future.
There was a two-day warning strike last week. After the third round of negotiations on Monday, a Verdi spokeswoman said that in many areas one was "still a long way from a noticeable short-term relief".
