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CDU plans forced labor for citizens' benefit recipients: DGB boss sounds the alarm!
The CDU in Barnim is planning to require those receiving citizens' benefit to do community service. DGB leader Karger criticizes the move as populist.
CDU plans forced labor for citizens' benefit recipients: DGB boss sounds the alarm!
The CDU in Barnim is planning to oblige those receiving community benefit to do charitable work. Katja Karger, the DGB leader in Berlin-Brandenburg, criticizes this initiative as “unspeakable”. She emphasizes that the cliché of the “lazy unemployed person” is brought up again and again. The CDU parliamentary group in Barnim has announced a corresponding motion for March, with which a majority in the district parliament could possibly be secured through support from the AfD, Free Voters and FDP.
The SPD in the state and in Barnim strictly rejects the plans. Karger describes the proposals as “populist” and points out that forced labor is banned in Germany. She points out that the majority of those entitled to benefits are not unemployed, but are not available to the labor market for various reasons, such as caring for relatives, raising children, illness or training.
Reactions to the planned measures
Karger calls for the causes of citizens' money to be combated with good jobs, living wages and more collective bargaining. Currently, over 31,000 employees in Brandenburg have to top up with citizen's benefit because their income is not enough to live on. Almost 13,000 people are affected, even though they work full-time.
The CDU receives support from the AfD and FDP for the demand for compulsory work, while the Greens and SPD reject this. The Greens also criticize the bureaucratic effort for municipalities, which have to prove that no regular jobs are being displaced.
Job centers currently have the option of requiring citizens' benefit recipients to do 1-euro jobs. The SPD sees Linnemann's initiative as populist, while the AfD has long been calling for an "activating basic security" that would like to link citizens' money with charitable work. However, under the current federal government it is not to be expected that a work requirement will be introduced for recipients of citizens' benefit, as a change to SGB II would be necessary and the possible introduction depends on the formation of a future government.
– Submitted by West-East media