Overview
- Warnstreiks began Tuesday at university hospitals in Cologne, Bonn and Essen for two days, with a one-day walkout in Düsseldorf, targeting nursing, labs, services and administration.
- Hospitals and Verdi said emergency care is secured under notdienst arrangements, while many non-urgent procedures are postponed and reduced operating schedules are in effect.
- Verdi estimates up to two-thirds of operations could be canceled in Cologne and roughly half in Bonn, with significant cutbacks also expected in Düsseldorf.
- In Berlin, about 2,500 non-medical staff at DRK Kliniken were called to a two-day strike as management sought an injunction over a disputed notdienst plan, with a court hearing set for later Tuesday.
- The walkouts exclude physicians covered by separate contracts, and Verdi notes staffing shortages are so acute in some units that maintaining notdienst limits how many can strike.