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Lessons from the Berlin hospital workers strike
How to Win
In 2021, 8,000 Berlin hospital workers went on strike for a month in one of the most powerful examples of worker action in recent decades in Germany. After 30 consecutive days of striking, mangement conceded to their demands for safer staff patient ratios, improved working conditions for trainees, and better payment for non-nursing staff.
On 24 January, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s London Office hosted some of the leading voices in the campaign to learn about what it took to win, including doubling their membership figures in just a few months, hiring a large Berlin football stadium for a strike meeting, involving almost 100 delegates in negotiations with bosses, and delivering a political strategy which brought almost all political parties onside.