Strike Action Closes 20 Operating Rooms at Freiburg University Hospital as Labour Talks Collapse Across Germany
13.06.2026 - 04:02:36 | boerse-global.de
More than 20 surgical suites and nearly 60 beds will be shut at Freiburg University Hospital on Monday and Tuesday after Verdi called two-day warning strikes at four university hospitals in Baden-Württemberg. The walkouts also hit Heidelberg, Ulm and Tübingen, escalating a dispute that has seen employers cancel all negotiating dates on a "healthier working conditions" agenda.
The strike announcement came hours after Verdi revealed that Baur, the service provider involved in separate pay talks, had scrapped every scheduled meeting on reducing workplace strain. The move follows the union's earlier threat to intensify action. A second round of negotiations at the university hospitals is set for Wednesday, where employers have promised to table an offer for the first time after failing to do so in the opening round.
Scientific Data Points to Widespread Exhaustion
The breakdown in dialogue coincides with fresh warnings from labour researchers. Dr. Elke Ahlers from the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI) noted that approximately 43 percent of employees regularly work more than eight hours a day, and nearly half of all workers feel burnt out. She singled out shortened rest periods of less than eleven hours as particularly damaging, triggering severe fatigue.
Older workers aged 55 to 64, who make up roughly a quarter of the workforce, would be willing to stay on the job longer if they had more say over their conditions, according to Ahlers. DIW president Marcel Fratzscher joined the debate, calling for greater flexibility but endorsing a cap: accident risk, he said, rises statistically significantly after the eighth hour of labour.
Economic Pressures Weigh on Hospital Finances
Verdi is demanding a pay increase of 7.5 percent, with a minimum of 320 euros per month. The employers' side points to the precarious financial state of the clinics. Tübingen University Hospital, for instance, reported an annual loss of 10 million euros on total costs of 40 million euros. The union also cited the cancellation of a rationalisation-protection collective agreement by the employers' association as a key reason for the escalation.
Deadlocked Talks Spread to Other Sectors
The labour conflicts are not confined to healthcare. In Lower Saxony, public-transport negotiations have stalled, prompting the appointment of Bodo Ramelow as mediator on Thursday. The dispute involves ten companies and roughly 4,550 workers, with demands focused on higher shift premiums and reductions in working hours.
In Hesse's retail sector, the third round of talks ended without a deal on the same day. Employers accused the union of lacking willingness to compromise; the next meeting is scheduled for early July. Strikes already hit the textile trade in Lower Saxony and Bremen, where Verdi says the offer on the table falls well below the inflation rate.
Political Efforts to Find Common Ground
Chancellor Merz sought consensus on Thursday at a meeting with business associations and unions, centred on pensions, health and long-term care. BDI president Leibinger pushed for swift reform impulses before the summer recess. Opposition representatives from the Greens, Left and AfD sharply criticised the government's direction. Meanwhile, the Labour Ministry under Minister Bas is preparing a draft law to regulate the maximum weekly working hours.
