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GEW BERLIN: About us

Welcome to GEW BERLIN! The GEW (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft) is the German Education Union. We organize workers in all education sectors: Kitas (day care/crèche/preschool/kindergarden), schools, universities, adult education as well as in social work. We organize in public and private sectors. We are a member union of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and Education International (EI). We have over 30,000 members in Berlin and over 280,000 members in all of Germany.

The GEW BERLIN fights for better working conditions, better collective bargaining agreements and better education for all. Some of our core values include inclusivity, anti-discrimination, antimilitarism, antifascism and solidarity. We are dedicated to giving education workers a voice in their workplaces and we are committed to making those voices heard by local, state, national and European governments. 

Do you work in the education sector? Consider joining GEW! All our members have professional liability insurance (Berufshaftpflichtsversichung) and legal protection insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung).  We also offer a wide range of seminars (in German) as well as legal counselling.

German employees are also represented by works councils called Personalräte in the public sector and Betriebsräte in the private sector. GEW members are often elected to these councils and are trained and supported by GEW. If your employer does not have a works council, or you do not know if you have a works council, get in touch with us! We can help you found a works council and can help you get a collective bargaining agreement (Tarifvertrag) if your workplace does not have one.

If you work in research or higher education, check out our English-language brochure on being a GEW member, our brochure about fixed-term contracts in higher education and the Petition „Permanent jobs für permanent tasks“.  If you would like to order print copies, please send Ryan Plocher (ryan.plocher(at)gew-berlin(dot)de) an e-mail with the number of copies and your mailing address.

If you have further questions about GEW and do not speak German, please write to Ryan Plocher at ryan.plocher(at)gew-berlin(dot)de

If you are a journalist and want to talk to an education worker in Berlin, please contact our press officer Markus Hanisch: markus.hanisch(at)gew-berlin(dot)de

 

 

 

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