Berlin: Vivantes subsidiary staff on all-out strike for equal pay, 15 April to 24 June 2026

Staff at Vivantes subsidiary companies in Berlin — the service arms of the city-owned hospital group — began an all-out enforcement strike (unbefristeter Erzwingungsstreik) on 15 April 2026, called by ver.di, after four rounds of negotiations and a series of warning strikes.

The dispute was over equal pay: subsidiary staff were paid at 91–96 per cent of the public-sector TVöD scale while doing the same work as directly employed colleagues, and the union demanded 100 per cent.

The strike ran continuously for more than 60 days, one of the longest in the Berlin hospital sector. Vivantes withdrew its existing pay offers on 20 April, citing expected revenue losses from federal health-insurance legislation, which hardened the dispute. Emergency service levels were maintained throughout, with the Berlin labour court ruling on their scope in several areas including central sterilisation.

An outline agreement was reached on 23 June 2026 and approved by a strike assembly, and the action was suspended from 24 June. Pay scales rise in stages to 100 per cent of TVöD by July 2031; Vivantes MVZ salaries rose 7.8 per cent from January 2026; shift supplements increase from 2029. Unequal treatment compared with directly employed hospital staff has not been fully removed.