The German health care system has been subject to an increase in economic
pressure and competition following changes introduced in the
early 2000s which make hospital funding largely dependent on payments
for diagnosis-related groups. As a result hospitals introduced
measures to reduce labour costs by increasing workloads and worsening
nurse-patient ratios. Additionally, large numbers of formerly publiclyowned
hospitals were privatised. This case study investigates the successful
strike of workers employed by the privatised service provider
of a university hospital and explores the possibilities of solidarity within
a precarious and highly segmented workforce.