In the summer and fall of 2021, the Berlin hospital movement initiated by the union ver.di made headlines with strikes at the two largest state-owned hospitals, Charité and Vivantes, as well as the latter's subsidiaries.
Workers were demanding relief in the form of more staff in hospitals and payment in accordance with the public sector collective agreement (TVöD) for outsourced areas. Through their strikes and ultimately the success of their demands, the Berlin hospital movement sent a clear message of hope: If you fight, you can win - it pays to organize!
Trade union methods of organizing were used to put pressure not only on employers, but also on politicians in the run-up to the Berlin elections to the Berlin House of Representatives. All of this ultimately had an effect - as the film impressively demonstrates.
At the same time, the film shows what led to the struggles for better working conditions and higher wages: The financing of hospitals according to the so-called Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) system created staff shortages in nursing and obstetrics, as well as time pressure, work compression and the endangerment of patients. The DRG effectively leads to competition among hospitals, a focus on "lucrative" treatments in the hospital, and to various economic savings measures.
Outsourcing of subsidiaries is thus a consequence of cost pressure. This is because outsourcing goes hand in hand with tariff evasion and lower pay, and also leads to a disaggregation of the hospital workforces as well as the increased invisibilization of areas that are socially less recognized, less visible, and disproportionately staffed by women and migrants, e.g. cleaning or food preparation. Yet this economization of health is increasingly leading to resistance and to successful struggles.
In this sense, the film serves also as an encouragement to all workforces who dream of better working conditions: Your dream can come true - join together, organize and fight. Let these Berlin hospital workers show you how it can be done.
Watch the film now, and if you're still interested, more information and texts on this topic can be found here: www.rosalux.de/dossiers/gesun...
Film producer: Thorsten Winsel Responsible persons at the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung: Julia Dück / Fanni Stolz