ver.di may not strike at Weimar Hospital: Protestant Church in Central Germany prevails again with HEUKING
On November 12, 2025, Erfurt Labor Court prohibited trade union ver.di from striking at Sophien- und Hufeland-Klinikum gGmbH also in the main proceedings.
ver.di demands that Sophien- und Hufeland-Klinikum gGmbH (Weimar) enter into a collective bargaining agreement. To enforce this, ver.di had called on the hospital’s employees to participate in several warning strikes in 2024. These warning strikes had been temporarily prohibited by rulings of Erfurt Labor Court on October 9, 2024 and July 31, 2025, as well as by a decision of Thuringian Regional Labor Court on October 11, 2025 (cf. previous press releases).
Represented and legally advised by a team led by HEUKING Partner Dr. Utz Andelewski, Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland (KdöR) [Protestant Church in Central Germany, a corporation under public law], Diakonisches Werk Evangelischer Kirchen in Mitteldeutschland e.V. [Social Service Agency of the Protestant Church in Germany, a registered association], and Sophien- und Hufeland-Klinikum gGmbH successfully opposed ver.di’s continuing demand for a collective agreement and obtained a prohibition on industrial action. Erfurt Labor Court ultimately affirmed the Federal Labor Court’s case law that church institutions adhering to collective agreements are not subject to strike action. The court thus expressly reaffirmed the constitutionally protected autonomy of churches and their institutions, notwithstanding ver.di’s assertion that the balance between the right to strike and church autonomy is evolving.
Litigator on behalf of Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland (KdöR), Diakonisches Werk Evangelischer Kirchen in Mitteldeutschland e.V., and Sophien- und Hufeland-Klinikum gGmbH
HEUKING:
Dr. Utz Andelewski (Lead),
Ann-Kathrin Weber,
Dr. Christopher Wiencke (all Employment), all Berlin
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