Is Hubert Aiwanger getting involved now?
Press
In Regensburg, the Deputy Prime Minister is photographed with strikers at the university hospital, for whose poor pay the Free State is responsible.
Regensburg – Daniela Liegl is disappointed. “Care is so unimportant,” calls the founder of the Burgweintinger nursing service, audibly frustrated, from the stage on the south side of Regensburg Cathedral – down to the few people present who were still holding out.
Rally with Aiwanger: “Care is taking shape – promises are not enough!”
Liegl invited people to the rally under the motto “Care is taking shape – promises are not enough!” But a benevolent estimate is that perhaps 200 people came at the peak, the majority of whom came from out of town.
The Bavarian Economics Minister and Free Voters leader Hubert Aiwanger also came. He talked for a good quarter of an hour, then shook a few more hands, took photos and gave an interview. Then he drove again.
(By the way: Our Regensburg newsletter informs you about all developments, news and stories from the world heritage city.)
Economics Minister Aiwanger is photographed with strikers at the Regensburg University Hospital
But at least the Deputy Prime Minister allowed himself to be photographed with a delegation from the Hospital Services Company, or KDL for short, immediately after his arrival at Cathedral Square.
Their employees have been on strike since the beginning of May. The KDL is a so-called “service company” at the Regensburg University Hospital (UKR). The almost 300 employees work at the university clinic, clean operating rooms, accompany patients and other tasks, and ensure smooth processes in the background. But they receive significantly lower wages than those employed directly at the UKR.
For KDL employees at the Regensburg University Hospital: No corona bonus and no inflation compensation
The framework tariff for building cleaners applies to the employees of KDL, which was founded in 2006. That means 13.50 euros an hour, regardless of whether you work there for ten years or a week. There are no bonuses, no Christmas bonuses, no company pension schemes, no Corona bonuses, no inflation compensation.
Depending on the length of employment, this means up to almost 50 percent less than those who work directly at the UKR. This can mean 1,000 euros less per month on your pay slip.
Two-class society at Bavarian university hospitals: State government remains inactive
For months, the employees at the KDL, mostly women and people with a migrant background, have been demanding that their pay be brought into line with the collective agreement of the federal states, which otherwise applies to the UKR. But both the management of the KDL and the board of the university hospital refuse to have any conversation. The works council and union speak of “wage dumping” and “tariff evasion in public contracts”.
The Free State of Bavaria, which holds 51 percent of the KDL through the Regensburg University Hospital, is responsible for this two-tier society, which not only exists in Regensburg, but also at the Würzburg and Erlangen University Hospitals. So you would have pay and employment conditions in your hands. As a member of the Bavarian state government, Aiwanger would at least have some influence to remedy this situation.
Aiwanger at the rally: “We as politicians have to behave more decently towards you”
So far, however, the university hospital and KDL management have refused to have any discussions with the works council and union about wage adjustments and have sent out press releases with dubious content. The directly responsible Bavarian Ministry of Science is staying out of it.
After the photo with the people from the KDL, Aiwanger assured in his speech on Cathedral Square: “We as politicians have to behave more decently towards you. We can’t continue to take advantage of you. We have to pay you more, give you better working conditions so that you continue to use this system.”
Photo with striking KDL employees: Did Aiwanger even know about it?
But whether Aiwanger is aware of who he had his photo taken with and whether he knows who the people from the KDL are who flanked the stage with their demands, banners and posters during his speech remains unclear on Saturday.
Shortly before his departure, the deputy prime minister received a poster from the KDL employees, folded it neatly and put it in the inside pocket of his jacket before he left Regensburg again. It remains to be seen whether he will follow up on his promises with action in Munich.
Rally in Regensburg: Those affected from nursing and medicine describe harrowing everyday life
Along with the Regensburg CSU state parliament member Jürgen Eberwein, who comes on behalf of the former Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek, Aiwanger is one of only two politicians who speak on Cathedral Square. But other people would also have been invited, assures organizer Liegl. However, representatives of other parties did not come.
For the most part, the rally stands out in a pleasant way from the anti-traffic light events, some of which were obviously motivated by party politics and occasionally aggressive, that took place in the course of and as a result of the farmers’ protests.
On stage, those affected by nursing, but also doctors, a pharmacist and a farmer speak about the problems they are confronted with, and occasionally suggestions for solutions or demands to “politicians” are formulated. It’s not about party politics.
Care rally in Regensburg: It is rarely party-political or blustering
Even CSU MP Jürgen Eberwein, who speaks at the very end, saves himself from major swipes at Berlin and similar banter. Even though he highlights the measures taken by the Bavarian state government, he admits in his personally delivered speech: “There is no knowledge problem, we need solutions.” And such solutions require “joining forces with each other.”
Only Hubert Aiwanger can’t leave it alone, although his speech remains comparatively moderate. But he does rail a bit – against Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and “his lobbyists” and against the release of cannabis.
Franz Huber, chairman of the “Hand in Hand for our Country” association, which supported Daniela Liegl in organizing the rally, said in his speech that he was repeating the conspiracy story once spread by Aiwanger, saying that it was “a little bit System” “that the inns are allowed to bleed dry, that they simply close, that social cohesion simply becomes less.”
Demo organizer complains about expensive parking permits for mobile care services
But apart from such small outliers, the speakers and the organizers are obviously primarily concerned with being heard by politicians.
It’s about little things like the parking permit in Regensburg, which costs mobile care services an additional 90 euros in addition to all the other charges, as Liegl complains. Or about rights to drive over construction sites, which recently resulted in city politics hitting granite at a construction site on the Nibelungen Bridge.
Nursing rally in Regensburg: Family doctor describes shocking everyday life in nursing homes
Regensburg family doctor Wolfgang Fischer vividly describes the widespread “emergency” in nursing homes – soggy wound dressings, people who don’t shower for weeks, lie wet in bed for hours, or are literally losing weight because no one has time to take care of them. Examples that Fischer has personally experienced.
His demands: finally upgrade the nursing profession. “Why do health insurance office employees earn significantly more than local skilled workers?” Re-integrate young people through compulsory and voluntary service – “it would be good for both sides.” Decouple the care and health sector from the pure profit motive. Profits that are generated would have to be reinvested, says Fischer.
Care rally in Regensburg: plea for more togetherness
Basically, he advocates a rethink in society – more togetherness, community. “If we only ever see the state as a self-service store, the shelves will become increasingly empty.”
There is still no uniform attitude or fixed position here. Here you can have a conversation or just listen to each other.
A steward who was part of the protests and the “Hand in Hand for our Country” association from the beginning says that he attaches great importance to ensuring that the party register does not play a role here. “None of us are in a party,” he asserts.
Care rally in Regensburg: Only a few people are interested
There are always a lot of stewards with you, including on Saturday in Regensburg, to prevent speakers from the Greens, such as Ludwig Hartmann in the past, from being prevented from speaking by massive use of whistles or from any other attacks occurring. “It doesn’t help if you demand that the traffic lights have to go,” he says. The traffic light needs to “switch” just like politics in general.
But now politicians from the traffic light factions were rarely persuaded to come to such events. And the people of Regensburg also largely stay away on Saturday.
When Jürgen Eberwein comes to the podium as the penultimate speaker and shows understanding with sometimes very personal words, but also a certain perplexity despite isolated suggestions for solutions, perhaps 50 people are still listening to him. The KDL employees left again after standing in front of the stage in the blazing sun for an hour and a half. But the Regensburg state parliament member didn’t say a word about her anyway.
Ethel Purdy – Medical Blogger & Pharmacist
Bridging the world of wellness and science, Ethel Purdy is a professional voice in healthcare with a passion for sharing knowledge. At 36, she stands at the confluence of medical expertise and the written word, holding a pharmacy degree acquired under the rigorous education systems of Germany and Estonia.
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