Student employees often have too little or too short a contract period, pay and vacation entitlement. This is why the TVStud movement, which we played a major role in organizing in Bonn, brought a large strike movement among student employees onto the streets for the first time last year. As a result, we have not yet been able to secure a collective agreement, but we now have a contractual agreement with uniform minimum wages nationwide and minimum contract terms of 12 months.
To ensure that this is also implemented in Bonn, we have been instrumental in ensuring that we have both students on the Staff Council and a functioning SHK Council. In negotiations between both bodies and the university, they agreed on implementation:
- a restrictive list of exceptions, so that from the beginning of 2025, the vast majority of contracts will be concluded over 12 months. Exceptions are:
- If the employee only wishes to be employed for a shorter period of time or if there are reasons on the part of the employee (e.g. completion of studies or a stay abroad before the end of the year)
- Task-related employment can be justified for less than one year if the required knowledge for a subsequent task is lacking. This means, for example, that if you are employed for a statistics tutorial and could also give a microeconomics tutorial in the following semester, there is no reason for an exception.
- The following situations explicitly do not justify exceptions:
- lack of funding
- internal university regulations (e.g. limited availability of funds)
- Department would like to test the person first (extended probationary period)
- The mandatory salary increase for SoSe25 was brought forward to WiSe24/25.
Even if the SHK Council, together with the Staff Council, was able to assert itself well against the university in the implementation of the collective bargaining agreement, it lacks many legal powers compared to a staff council. For example, the SHK Council can advise you, obtain information from the university and complain to the Rector about individual procedures – but nothing more.
For this reason, we are campaigning for the powers of the SHK councils to be significantly expanded as part of the current amendment to the Higher Education Act. Specifically, we are calling for
- mandatory participation of SHK representatives analogous to the LPVG, for example in tenders, dismissals, rejection of vacation requests and the design of workplaces.
- the expansion of collective competencies, such as the conclusion of service agreements, the convening of staff meetings, access to SHK employee distribution lists, etc.
- the expansion of the individual rights of members of SHK representations through, among other things, a mandatory leave of absence analogous to the LPVG, assumption of costs for further training and provision of appropriate premises and work equipment.
- the establishment of a non-rectoral arbitration board to decide on disputes regarding the objection of measures by SHK representatives. This body should either be independent or have equal representation of employees and employers.
- the statutory determination of the minimum size of SHK representations, analogous to § 13 LPVG, staggered according to the number of employees represented.
We will also take part in the collective bargaining round in the fall in order to strive for the TVStud. A collective agreement has a number of advantages over the current contractual agreement:
- Incorporation into the TV-L would mean that we would also apply all the benefits that have been fought for there so far to student employees: higher vacation entitlement, longer sick pay, …
- The state will reimburse the university in full for any cost increases resulting from a collective agreement, but not those resulting from the contractual agreement. A collective agreement therefore ensures that there is enough money available to pay tutors appropriately, even in small departments.
Are you up for it? Join in! Have a look at the TVStud-Plenum in Bonn.