Theater strike in Bautzen: Artists demand fair remuneration and equality!

Theater strike in Bautzen: Artists demand fair remuneration and equality!

Bautzen, Deutschland - In Bautzen, artistically active this day, June 18, 2025, expressed their resentment about unsuccessful collective bargaining in an impressive warning and solidarity strike. Around 80 dancers, orchestral musicians, soloists and stage workers gathered in the courtyard of the Sorbian National Ensemble (SNE), to fight for their rights using a 15-minute short strike. This industrial action was organized by the German Music and Orchestra Association "Unisono" and three other artist unions, including the BFFs, GDBA and VDO. The goal: a takeover of the current collective bargaining of the public service for employees in the artistic field, such as on Sächsische.de

Negotiations with the German Stage Association on June 11 had failed, and the strike serves as a wake -up call to politics and society to improve working conditions in the cultural sector. Among other things, the unions are calling for an increase in the Christmas and vacation allowance frozen since 1992 to 85%, an additional individually planned vacation day and the transfer of the 60 euro layer allowance to basic remuneration. According to associationsbuero.de Salary increases: 3% from April 2025 and 2.8% from May 2026.

claims and rounds of negotiations

The pressure on the German stage association has increased enormously with this strike. The unions see the action not only as an expression of dissatisfaction with the previous tariff policy, but also as a way to improve the conditions for all stage employees. The next round of negotiations will be scheduled on June 25th.

The current rehearsals continue to run despite the strike, as the orchestral musicians prepare for their appearance at the "Palais Sommer in Dresden" on June 21. There is hope that participation in this significant cultural event will strengthen the negotiating position of the artists.

tariff cleaning in sight?

Only recently have the German stage association and several unions agree on some new regulations on working hours, which are to be implemented gradually from August 1, as Deutschlandfunk . These regulations mainly concern artistically employees and include a reduced working time model for mostly artistically active stage technicians. However, it remains to be seen whether these positive developments are sufficient to meet the current pressure of the artists.

Overall, the current dispute shows how important fair remuneration and reasonable working conditions are for the artists in Germany. Today's strike is a clear expression that art is not only created on the stages, but also fought for rights.