Dear fellow students, dear student/scientific assistants and tutors (in short: student workers),
We need your help to improve the working conditions of student workers at our university! How? Take part in the digital survey of demands for the collective bargaining round at https://www.tarifrebellion.de/Forderungsfindung_tvstud_2023!
Why? All over Germany, student workers are organising themselves in the TVStud movement [1] and are demanding the improvement of their working conditions through a collective agreement, fair wages, co-determination rights and an improvement in the duration of their employment contracts – because we are selling ourselves far short!
The recently published study “Young, academic, precarious” [2] clearly shows what the working conditions of student workers at German universities are like: Wages at minimum wage level, short contract terms and chain contracts, lack of democratic co-determination…. Bad conditions that exist in almost no other area of the working world. It is not without reason that more and more of these jobs remain unfilled. Even compliance with minimum labour standards such as holiday entitlement, continued payment of wages in case of illness or the ban on unpaid overtime are the exception rather than the rule among student workers.
Our trade unions ver.di and GEW have taken up these problems and want to make the improvement of the working conditions of student workers a demand towards the employers in the upcoming collective bargaining round of the public service of the Länder (TV-L) in autumn. Together with them and other groups of public sector workers, we are preparing a collective bargaining movement and – if necessary – go for strike. The prerequisite for this is that many workers move. So now it’s up to you!
Now it depends on you!
If you have not already done so: Take part in the employee survey in paper form at your local TVStud initiative or digitally at https://www.tarifrebellion.de/Forderungsfindung_tvstud_2023 and forward it to other colleagues.
The demand survey is open to ALL student workers, regardless of employment type and union membership. The only important thing is that you are currently working as a student worker (tutor, assistant without a degree, with a bachelor’s degree, with a master’s degree).
Our target is at least 1,500 student workers taking part in the survey.
Watch out for further announcements. At the end of October and in November, if necessary, we will take to the streets together if negotiations with the employers stall. To keep up to date, join our nationwide Telegram groups (see below) and keep up to date on Twitter and Instagram (@TVStud_bund).
Do you have more questions about the demand survey?
You can always contact your local initiative or mail@tvstud.de.
With your participation, we are a big step closer to a historic event: a nationwide collective agreement for student workers (yes, that has never happened before)! We say: No more precarious working conditions! No more disrespect for our labour rights! Give us the collective agreement! Because without us, the university will stand still!
[1] TVStud = Tarifvertrag für Studentische Beschäftigte/ Collective agreement for student employees. More info at https://tvstud.de/
[2] https://www.iaw.uni-bremen.de/archiv/mitteilungen/detail?news=90#news90