ver.di Jugend is the youth organization of the United Services Union (Ver.di). All members up to the age of 28 are automatically enrolled in it. The ver.di trade union was formed in 2001 through the merger of five individual unions and is a member of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). ver.di Youth advocates for better training, working, and living conditions for apprentices, dual-study students, and young adults, as well as for a more equitable society. It also conducts actions and campaigns to achieve these goals.
Structure The ver.di Youth, like its parent organization, is divided into 10 regional districts and 5 specialist departments. Representatives from each department and district have voting rights at these organizational levels. The highest body is the Federal Youth Conference, which takes place every four years. Between conferences, the Federal Youth Executive Board, as the highest body, manages the affairs of ver.di Youth. The Federal Youth Executive Board comprises volunteer representatives from the ten regional districts and specialist departments.
Some departments have their own youth committees at the federal, state, district, and local levels. The entire organizational structure is regulated in the ver.di Youth guidelines. The standard monthly membership fee is 1% of monthly gross earnings. School pupils, students, and those performing military or civilian service pay €2.50 per month.
According to the ver.di Youth guidelines, the Federal Youth Executive Board is headed by an executive director (GF BJV), who is elected by the Federal Youth Conference. (As of February 2014).
Joshua Kensy is the honorary chair of ver.di Youth, and Deborah Neuenfeld and Anna-Luisa Jansen are the deputy chairs. The executive board was elected by the delegates at the Federal Youth Conference in May 2023. Anna-Luisa Jansen was subsequently elected by the Federal Youth Executive Board. Full-time youth secretaries are employed at all levels; Astrid Gorsky is the Federal Youth Secretary.
Profile ver.di Youth sees itself as an advocate for young professionals and employees. As part of the United Services Union (ver.di), ver.di Youth organizes around 105,000 trainees, dual-study students, young employees, school pupils, and university students nationwide [as of December 2021]. The task of ver.di Youth, together with the relevant departments, is to reach out to this target group, incorporate their experiences, and support them in translating their interests into self-organized political and trade union action. This generally takes place in cooperation with youth and trainee representatives and ver.di activists in companies and public service offices. ver.di Youth is also active in other policy areas, such as social policy, housing policy, and social policy.
Youth collective bargaining Collective bargaining is at the heart of ver.di Youth. Training and working conditions don't improve automatically due to the differing interests of employers and young workers. However, a strong union, together with its members, can negotiate improvements in working and training conditions with employers' associations. A fundamental principle applies: the more young colleagues organize and become involved in the union, the more demands it can achieve with employers. Every round of collective bargaining in ver.di Youth follows a similar structure: the first phase is the survey of demands and activities, the second phase is mobilization and activation, followed by the third phase of actions and negotiations, and the fourth phase of results and follow-up.
In ver.di's collective bargaining rounds, volunteer bargaining commissions are involved, with a mandatory number of seats reserved for ver.di youth. ver.di can also establish its own youth bargaining commissions, which can participate in decisions regarding collective agreements on vocational training. This ensures the structural integration of young employees and trainees into ver.di's statutes and youth guidelines.
Youth tariff campaigns
The ver.di Youth provides umbrella campaigns for use in the workplace. With a uniform design, various materials, and training opportunities, activists in companies are supported and trained to recruit more young colleagues for the collective bargaining round and thus enforce collective bargaining demands. The first youth collective bargaining campaign was called "Better Uncomfortable," which was succeeded by the "Collective Bargaining Deluxe" campaign. The youth collective bargaining campaign "Collective Bargaining Rebels" was completed in 2020 in collaboration with volunteers. It includes analog and digital tools for every phase of a collective bargaining round. At the beginning of 2022, the Federal Youth Executive Committee agreed to further develop and use the "Collective Bargaining Rebels" campaign until the end of 2023. All information on current collective bargaining rounds can be found on the campaign website at www.tarifrebellion.de.
In 2021, the Tarifrebell*innen campaign was nominated as a finalist in the “Interactive Engagement Campaign” category of the .
Youth strike days of the ver.di youth
In 2020, ver.di Youth had to call for the first time to a youth strike day for trainees and dual-study students in the federal and municipal public sector wage negotiations. More than 3,000 young people participated. Ver.di Chairman described the youth strike as a logical consequence, as the employers had been very tight-lipped regarding the demands of the young people. During the 2021 wage negotiations for state employees, ver.di Youth again called for a youth action day for trainees and dual-study students. In the 2023 wage negotiations for the public sector, ver.di Youth again called for a nationwide youth strike day for trainees and dual-study students on 1 March 2023. More than 6,000 young people followed the call.
The youth strike day serves to raise awareness of the specific demands and training conditions in the public sector. In particular, prospective employees in the healthcare sector, but also trainees from all other areas of the public service, have heeded the calls of ver.di youth.
Recent collective bargaining successes of ver.di youth In addition to increasing training allowances in all areas covered by ver.di's collective bargaining agreements, ver.di youth is consistently able to achieve qualitative improvements in collective bargaining rounds.
Banking industry In the summer of 2021, it was possible to negotiate a collective agreement for junior staff in the public banking sector, which provides for the remuneration of dual students, a study allowance, as well as a collective agreement on taking over the business and entitlements to time off before final examinations.
Hairdressing trade In 2018, the ver.di union was able to double or significantly increase wages in the hairdressing trade in Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony. This followed a major campaign within the hairdressing industry to organize apprentices. Before the campaign, some hairdressing apprentices received considerably less than the current minimum apprenticeship wage.
Public service In Berlin, a collective bargaining agreement was successfully negotiated in 2021 for employees and trainees at Charité and Vivantes hospitals, providing them with relief. According to this agreement, trainees will receive two days of on-the-job training for organizational familiarization on the ward, their work schedules will be provided eight weeks in advance, and they will receive workload credits for understaffed shifts, which can be used as time off after they are hired permanently. Additionally, Vivantes trainees will receive digital devices for both school and personal use.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, a collective bargaining agreement on workload reduction was also reached at the six university hospitals in 2022. This agreement regulated, among other things, the ratio of practical instructors to trainees in the various vocational training programs, the ratio of teachers to trainees in the hospitals' own schools, and mandatory structured training plans and timely duty rosters for some vocational training programs.
In October 2018, ver.di Youth successfully negotiated with public sector employers, securing an increase in pay from zero to €1,000 for school-based healthcare professions and their inclusion in the collective bargaining agreement. As part of the #unpaid campaign, numerous trainees organized within ver.di Youth and exerted pressure on employers through various actions.
In January 2020, a collective bargaining agreement was reached in the public sector at the federal, municipal, and state levels for the remuneration of dual study programs that integrate vocational training. Dual students now receive a study allowance, a tuition fee, 30 days of vacation, the right to travel home to their families, and reimbursement of travel expenses for training activities outside the training institution.
Working with youth and trainee representatives The ver.di Youth actively supports youth and trainee representatives (JAV/AV) in German companies. JAVs/AVs advocate for their young colleagues in the workplace and during their apprenticeships. They are granted co-determination rights under the Works Constitution Act and/or state staff representation laws. ver.di Youth provides strong support and expert advice to JAVs as they face challenges such as monitoring compliance with laws and collective bargaining agreements, continuously reviewing the quality of training, and striving to ensure that as many trainees as possible are hired after their apprenticeships. ver.di Youth operates the information portal www.jav.info, which provides initial information for prospective and active JAV members.
Support in the election The ver.di Youth supports works councils/staff councils and young employees in the election of youth and trainee representatives in their companies. Using both analog and digital tools, such as a digital election assistant, sample letters, and timelines, ver.di members receive practical materials they can use for electing new bodies. In large companies, the ver.di Youth sometimes runs its own lists and election program to improve the long-term quality of training for young professionals.
Training and coaching The ver.di Youth supports elected members with its own training courses, enabling them to acquire the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary for their work as youth representatives. The seminars generally take place at the ver.di Youth Education Center in Naumburg. In addition to introductory seminars, topic-specific seminars are also offered on combating discrimination, implementing collective bargaining agreements, and improving occupational health and safety. The seminars are led by instructors with practical experience in the workplace, allowing them to share their insights and knowledge with new youth representatives from other companies. The seminars emphasize a mix of engaging presentations, practical exercises.
Furthermore, ver.di Youth provides targeted advice and coaching to youth representatives (JAV) in cases of workplace conflicts or problems within their own JAV committees. Newly elected JAVs receive a voucher from ver.di Youth for a consultation. For JAV work within the company, ver.di Youth offers resources such as work aids, posters/flyers, and basic materials like business cards and PowerPoint presentations.
Networking