Overview
- The broadcaster and the unions reached a tariff understanding that guarantees temporary, tiered compensation for freelance and employee‑like staff whose honoraria fall between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027.
- The payment formula compares 2025 earnings with 2026/27 receipts and tops up the difference to 90% for people with more than 20 years of recurring work, 85% for 10–19 years, and 80% for 1–9 years.
- The agreement also commits MDR not to issue ordinary operational dismissal notices for fixed and employee‑like freelance staff from late May through the end of October, with the earliest effective terminations after October set no earlier than April 1, 2027.
- The tariff result was reported publicly after a May 29 understanding between MDR management and the unions DJV, ver.di and Unisono, but it still needs formal approval by MDR committees and final union ratification.
- The measures sit inside a wider crisis for regional public broadcasting: MDR faces a structural shortfall, halted productions including a three‑year pause on new Tatort and Polizeiruf 110 films, and ongoing ARD‑wide wage actions that are disrupting programming and keeping pressure on further reforms.