German nurseries on strike

Staff at German nurseries have been taking indefinite strike action in a major effort to improve their pay.

The strikes began on 8 May, following a 93.4% vote in favour among members of Ver.di, the largest union involved, and in the first week alone some 150,000 workers took action.

The unions are pressing for the posts of some 240,000 nursery workers and others looking after children in public institutions to be upgraded, which they expect will result in a pay increase of around 10%.

In 2009, a similar strike produced a new grading structure for nursery and other workers and the unions now want to make further progress.