Meeting of labor ministers - Better working conditions for parcel carriers?
The working conditions for parcel deliverers urgently need to improve in the view of the federal states' employment and social affairs ministers, for example by banning contracts for work and services. "These people must be protected," said Berlin's Senator for Labor Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD) at the end of the 100th Conference of Labor and Social Affairs Ministers (ASMK), which she chaired.
In total, the ministers passed more than 40 resolutions. Kiziltepe said that the focus was on a key motion to attract and secure skilled workers. The ASMK also committed to the EU goal of ending homelessness by 2030.
A great deal of "really very precarious work" is carried out by parcel services, with Eastern European contract workers being particularly affected, said North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister of Labor Karl-Josef Laumann.
According to the CDU politician, the ASMK passed a motion by a majority, according to which working hours must be recorded "sensibly". This should help to monitor compliance with the minimum wage. The ministers also argued that there should be a hiring requirement in the parcel sector. "This means that contracts for work in this sector should no longer exist - in our view." Laumann called on the industry to take the decision seriously. "You can also prevent things by simply changing behavior."
Citizen's income should not be touched
Hamburg's Senator for Labor, Melanie Schlotzhauer(SPD), said that the labor and social ministers remain committed to increasing the citizen's income. However, this does not mean that the focus is solely on the increase: the efforts as part of the "Job Turbo", which aims to get hundreds of thousands of refugees into work more quickly, are very much welcomed. The best way to prevent people from receiving social benefits is to work. Laumann considered the decision on the citizen's income to be well balanced, also in view of the current budget crisis with its demands for savings.
Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) had also assured postal and parcel delivery workers that he wanted to implement better working conditions in the sector.
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Source: www.stern.de
