Trade unions and organizations wait for budget
Trade unions, organizations and associations have called for a swift decision on the 2024 state budget. Michael Rudolph, Chairman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) Hesse-Thuringia, said on Friday in Erfurt that this has been awaited for weeks. "The speedy process has not worked, we are in the same situation as last year."
The government draft with a volume of 13.8 billion euros has been in the state parliament since mid-September. The red-red-green minority coalition is currently struggling with the opposition CDU parliamentary group to reach a budget compromise.
According to the trade unionist, it is a shame that the signatories of an appeal for the rapid adoption of the 2024 budget now have to insist once again that there is a state budget for next year before the end of the year.
In addition to several DGB trade unions, social organizations and the state sports association also signed the appeal in July. They are concerned with financial planning security. After a long period of uncertainty, the state budget for 2023 was only adopted in December 2022.
In addition to Rudolph, Thomas Zirkel, Managing Director of the State Sports Association, and Katja Glybowskaja, Chairwoman of the League of Independent Welfare Services, explained that the fact that the 2024 budget had not yet been adopted had already led to some employees in the social and sports sectors looking for other jobs. This is a major problem because there is also a shortage of skilled workers in this part of the labor market. According to Glybowskaja, hundreds of employees in the state are threatened with unemployment from January 1, for example in advice centers for senior citizens and young people, in democracy or violence protection projects.
Zirkel said that the previous coordinator of the movement coaches project at the state sports association was one of those who had already looked for a new job. His current employment contract runs until the end of 2023. 13 men and women plus the project coordinator are employed by Thuringian sports clubs through the movement coaches project. Their aim is to encourage children to get more exercise after the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
The lack of a adopted 2024 state budget is causing concern in household budgets, as it might lead to job losses in the social and sports sectors from January 1. The parliament has been deliberating on the government draft of 13.8 billion euros since mid-September.
Source: www.dpa.com
