Collective bargaining on July 9th: Sana employees fight for fair wages!

Collective bargaining on July 9th: Sana employees fight for fair wages!

On July 9, 2025, collective bargaining for around 1,000 non-medical employees and 60 trainees at Sana Kliniken Niederlausitz GmbH is on the agenda. This round of negotiations is the second, following the first on June 4, 2025, and the employer side has not yet submitted a collective bargaining offer. How cityreport reports, the ver.di collective bargaining commission is calling for the application of the Sana Group collective agreements, which already apply in other Sana clinics, for example in Cottbus and Dresden.

The current company collective agreement in Lower Lusatia leads to monthly wages of 85-88% of the Sana Group collective wage agreement, and the weekly working time is 38.0 hours, which corresponds to 98.7% of the company standard of 38.5 hours. “The tariff gap will increase by 2% from September,” explains Ralf Franke, the ver.di negotiator, and criticizes the salary differences to other Sana hospitals. “The services in Senftenberg and Lauchhammer are paid at the same level, so why are there these differences in salaries?”

Collective bargaining results in other company areas

The discussion about fair pay is not new. As part of the fifth round of collective bargaining for around 10,000 employees of the Sana clinic operator, a pay increase of 7%, but at least 200 euros, was achieved last year. How ver.di reported, higher allowances and one-off payments of 2,000 euros in 2023 and 500 euros in 2024 will also be granted in order to cushion the financial burden on employees. The minimum amount of 200 euros is an important step, especially for those with low incomes.

Another aspect that is emphasized in the negotiations is the introduction of bonuses for long-term employees at Sana. These amount to up to 100 euros per month, depending on the length of service. In addition, trainees also benefit from financial incentives, such as one-off payments of 750 euros and further amounts in 2024.

Wider social relevance

The ver.di works also have an impact on increasing allowances in the health sector, which have increased sporadically in recent years due to strike activities. The intensive care supplements have increased from 90 to 150 euros, which corresponds to an increase of 67%. These are important improvements for the approximately 1.1 million collective bargaining employees in the public sector ver.di highlights.

The next round of negotiations on July 9th will be of crucial importance for many employees, especially given that the personnel costs in the Sana clinics are financed by the health insurance companies through uniform nationwide flat rates. With an ownership share of 49%, after selling 51% of the shares in 2020, the district remains vigilant about developments at Sana Kliniken Niederlausitz gGmbH. It remains to be seen whether the employees will have their achievements recognized in the second round of negotiations.