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Romain Schneider, the LSAP social security minister, has said in a radio interview that he’s hopeful that a hospital strike can be avoided. He is pictured here during a parliamentary session in 2009. Photo: Luc Deflorenne 

The independent trade union OBGL has threatened to strike because the negotiations on a new collective agreement had failed. It votes on whether to strike on 19 June.

The Christian trade union LCGB will decide on Wednesday 14 June.

Schneider said in an interview on RTL radio on Tuesday 13 June that it was a positive sign that negotiations had been taken up again, and that some union members were not in favour of a strike. On Monday 11 June, the FHL (Fédération des Hôpitaux Luxembourgeois) and the trade unions had held long talks and set a new date to continue talks.

The minister said that the government did not intervene in collective agreement negotiations. He has offered for the ministry to provide help in technical details, but stated that the stakeholders have to come to their own agreement.

On the most important point in the talks, the upgrading of careers, there was an agreement between the trade unions and the FHL, according to Schneider. He hoped that the rest would be solved soon.

On pensions, he painted a positive picture: pensions were guaranteed until 2040; while in Germany they are only guaranteed for three weeks.