Grüne on work and social affairs

The Greens want to tackle the skilled labor shortage with stronger dual vocational training, regional education agencies for continuing education and welcome centers for international workers. Foreign qualifications would be recognized more easily.

Bavaria lacks many skilled workers. The Greens want to strengthen job training. New agencies would advise on further training. There would be contact points for skilled workers from abroad. Degrees from abroad should count more easily.

Career guidance and practical days at schools would be developed further, curricula and training regulations modernized and new occupations supported. Regional education agencies would serve as local contact points for funding and advice on continuing education and make retraining easier. Girls and young people with a migration background are to get to know trades free of role stereotypes. Universities of applied sciences and technical universities would get support for dual study programs and doctoral options. A welcome center is planned in every administrative district, and hiring international workers would become easier.

The Greens in Bavaria back the federal plan to introduce a Kindergrundsicherung (basic child allowance). It is meant to prevent children from living in poverty. In the party's view, every child has a right to take part in community life.

Some families have too little money for outings or the swimming pool. The federal government plans a basic child allowance. That is money from the state for children. The Greens in Bavaria support this plan. No child should be poor.

As examples of participation, the program names daycare outings, school camp stays, the swimming pool and the museum. Not every family can cover such costs alone, it says. The Kindergrundsicherung is a federal project that the Bavarian Greens want to support.

The Greens want to make it easier to switch between part-time and full-time work so that cutting hours no longer ends a career. They also call for a right to work from home and to work remotely.

Many people care for children or relatives besides their job. So the Greens want more flexible working hours. Switching between part-time and full-time should be easier. People who work less should still have a career. There should be a right to work from home.

The platform speaks of a modern working-time culture that makes job, family, friendships and volunteering compatible. It argues that many people care for relatives, raise children or pursue further training alongside their job. Everyone should be able to live on their work or receive sufficient support. The Greens want to shape digital change so that workers' rights stay protected.

The Greens want to pass an educational leave law (Bildungszeitgesetz) for Bavaria. Employees would be able to take ten days off work for training within any two-year period. Adult education would also receive considerably more funding.

The Greens want a new law for Bavaria. It gives workers days off to learn. Workers get ten days in two years. Courses for adults should also get more money.

The platform points out that Bavaria is one of only two German states without a legal right to educational leave. The time off would cover vocational, digital, political and cultural training. In addition, adult education programs would be funded much more generously. The party justifies this with the growing need for further training and the rapid change in the working world, and expects it to strengthen democracy and Bavaria as a business location.

The Greens want to work with labor unions to modernize and broaden employee co-determination in companies. They see it as a core part of democracy and the economic order, and as a precondition for workers and firms alike to benefit from digital change.

Workers should have more say in their companies. The Greens want to work with labor unions on this. There should be more works councils. These are elected groups that speak for workers.

According to the platform, employees and employers can only decide on wages, equality and working conditions as equals if co-determination is guaranteed. More say for workers is expected to raise acceptance of decisions and encourage employees to contribute ideas. The platform also calls for more works councils and staff councils with equal standing.

The Greens want to create far more jobs in the publicly subsidized “social labor market” and give people with disabilities equal access to work. Sheltered workshops for people with disabilities would be reformed and opened up. People working there would be able to choose between staying in the workshop and moving, with support, to the regular labor market.

The Greens want more supported jobs for people who have been out of work for a long time. People with disabilities should find regular jobs more easily. Job coaches should support them over the long term. In sheltered workshops, people with and without disabilities should work together. Pay there should be fair.

Reduced-hours participation jobs are planned for long-term unemployed people with limited capacity to work. The Budget für Arbeit (a wage subsidy for employing people with disabilities) would be strengthened, long-term job coaching introduced, and money from the compensatory levy used for support in the regular labor market. Employer alliances would be formed with businesses in every region, especially in rural areas, and the public sector is to lead by example. Opening the workshops is meant to pave the way toward inclusive companies. The platform treats employee rights and appropriate pay, mentioning the minimum wage, as a given.

The Greens want to pass a Tariftreuegesetz (a law tying public contracts to collectively agreed wages) for Bavaria. Public contracts would go only to companies that comply with collective agreements, pay a minimum rate and meet further social and environmental criteria. The party aims to counter companies leaving collective bargaining.

The state gives many contracts to companies. The Greens want a new law for this. Only companies that pay union-agreed wages should get contracts. These companies should also meet social and environmental rules.

The platform notes that 14 of Germany's 16 states already have such a law. Besides compliance with collective agreements, a set minimum pay level and social, labor-market and environmental criteria would be conditions for winning contracts. The public procurement review bodies would get more staff to make this work. Municipalities would receive support in applying the rules.

The Greens want to give older people more opportunities to take part in society: meeting places in every municipality, better accessibility, support against loneliness and learning opportunities. Anyone who has spent much of their life working, raising children or caring for others should get a pension above the level of basic income support. Women in particular are to be better protected from poverty in old age.

Older people should be able to stay part of community life. Every town should get meeting places. Buses and trains should get better. Nobody should be lonely. People who worked for a long time should get a pension above basic welfare.

Accessibility, expanded bus and rail service and funded mobility plans are meant to keep shops, doctors, cultural venues and pubs within reach without a car. Psychosocial support services would be expanded, and a commissioner for participation would be appointed. The party wants to counter age discrimination in the labor market. Together with adult education centers (Volkshochschulen), courses for older people would be funded, for example on social media. Changed admission rules would allow guest studies at universities even without a university entrance qualification.

The Greens want to introduce a permanent monthly allowance for deaf people in Bavaria, modeled on the existing allowance for blind people. It is meant to help deaf and hard-of-hearing people cover the extra costs of their disability and take part in society on equal terms.

Deaf people should get money from the state every month. People who hear poorly should get it too. Blind people already get this kind of help. The money can pay for interpreters, for example. This helps them take part in daily life.

The benefit would be paid regularly each month and would offset disability-related extra costs that are not covered so far. According to the platform, it would make everyday communication through interpreters and technical aids easier. Getting around and using cultural, educational and leisure offerings would also become easier.

The Greens want the Bavarian state to ensure fair wages when it awards public contracts, in order to shrink the low-wage sector. To address poverty, they propose statewide participation conferences, ongoing poverty monitoring and making support such as a social pass available across Bavaria.

The state of Bavaria gives contracts to companies. The Greens want fair wages on these contracts. Everyone should be able to live on their pay. The Greens also want to help poor people more. For example, a social pass should exist everywhere.

According to the platform, many people in Bavaria work for very low wages. The state should therefore set an example as a contracting authority, which is meant to raise wage levels and curb the low-wage sector. The platform calls the number of people living in or at risk of poverty unacceptable. As a first step, it plans participation conferences across the state and a poverty monitoring system. Support that so far exists only in some places, such as a social pass, is to be launched everywhere and funded for the long term. Local advice on all available support is also promised.