Kassel/Darmstadt/Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - Parents of daycare children also have to prepare for major problems in Hesse this Wednesday: On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Verdi service union is calling for nationwide warning strikes in daycare centers and social facilities. Accordingly, numerous municipal daycare centers, youth centers and other facilities throughout the state are affected.
"Parents should find out from the respective carriers about possible emergency operations or other alternative options," said the union. Demonstrations and rallies are planned in Kassel, Marburg, Hanau, Frankfurt and Darmstadt.
"We have been fighting for the upgrading of social work for many years. The work of the educators and social workers must get the recognition it deserves," it said. According to Verdi, the warning strikes will take place on International Women's Day, since the majority of women work in social work, with a share of 83 percent.
As in all social professions, the workload in the day-care centers is great, explained the parliamentary group leader and socio-political spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Lisa Gnadl. "In order to be able to cope with the demands of everyday work without risking their own health, many employees reduce their working hours." But this exacerbates the already existing lack of qualified educators, "who in turn face a life with precarious pensions or even poverty in old age at the end of their working lives," emphasized Gnadl. The aim is to break this vicious circle and improve working conditions in the long term.
In the current collective bargaining for the approximately 2.5 million federal and local employees, the union and the civil servants' association dbb are demanding 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more per month.
