SPD on work and social affairs

The SPD wants to revise the state's law on collective-agreement compliance and minimum wages so that public contracts are awarded only on the basis of collective agreements. A separate minimum wage for public procurement would be added. It rejects privatizing public enterprises.

The state and towns give contracts to companies. The SPD wants these companies to pay union-negotiated wages. There should also be a minimum wage for such contracts. Public companies should not be sold.

The procurement minimum wage would be at least equal to the lowest pay grade of the TV-L (the collective agreement for state employees). An ordinance would specify which collective agreements apply to contract awards. A new specialized prosecutor's office would pursue offenses under the Works Constitution Act. The state law on staff representation would be reformed to strengthen staff councils. On occupational safety, the SPD wants more sector-specific measures and workplace inspections.

The SPD wants to invest more in continuing education and skills, creating a 20-million-euro fund for employees of small and medium-sized businesses. Unskilled workers and the long-term unemployed would also receive training.

The SPD wants to spend more money on job training. A fund of 20 million euros should help workers in small and medium-sized companies. People without job training should also be able to learn. People in training should get financial help.

The fund is aimed at employees in small and medium-sized businesses. The SPD also wants to support training for people without a vocational qualification and for the long-term unemployed. People taking part in continuing education would receive financial support.

The SPD wants to create a permanent state labor market program, backed by law, to move the long-term unemployed into jobs with social insurance coverage. The subsidized 'social labor market' would be strengthened. Programs that help young people start their careers would be expanded.

Many people in the state have been out of work for a long time. The SPD wants a state program to get them jobs. A law should secure the program. Young people should also get more help starting work.

The platform points to more than 80,000 long-term unemployed people in the state and calls existing state measures short-term and unsystematic. State funds would supplement federal programs and create additional jobs for people furthest from the labor market. Counseling centers for the unemployed would be expanded and better funded, with more leeway for the organizations running them. The BeJuga project, currently at 31 locations, would be extended to all counties and become a standard instrument. Assisted training for care assistants and everyday support workers would be widened to full qualifications and to childcare professions.

The SPD wants older people to have more say in political decisions at state and local level. A reduced-fare ticket for seniors in need and community buses are to improve mobility. A state strategy is to reduce loneliness in society.

Older people should have more say in politics. Poor seniors should get a cheap ticket for buses and trains. Rural areas should get more community buses. The SPD wants a plan against loneliness. There should be more places to meet.

The state is to analyze the living conditions of older people on a regular basis and derive recommendations from that. Meeting places and outreach counseling are to be expanded. Against loneliness, the program plans neighborhood projects and digital platforms as well as a large survey on social isolation. The state strategy is to bundle prevention services and establish the "Gemeindeschwesterplus" (community nurse plus) program statewide.

The SPD wants targeted support for groups at risk of poverty, such as single parents, children and older people. All children are to get a state-funded lunch at daycare and school. The state is again to publish its own poverty and wealth report every five years.

The SPD wants less poverty in the state. All children should get a free lunch at daycare and school. The state should pay for the meals. There should be enough advice for people in debt. A report on poverty should come out every five years.

Against poverty, the program relies on neighborhood-based work, more housing and cultural funding, especially where poverty has become entrenched. Children are also to have access to sports, music, culture and other leisure activities. Prevention networks against child poverty are to grow. Debt counseling centers are to exist in sufficient number and be adequately funded, complemented by separate counseling for young people that includes financial education.

The SPD supports a right for young people to do voluntary service. The state is to increase its funding to make these programs more attractive. People doing voluntary service are to ride public transit for free.

Young people should have a right to do voluntary service. The state should give more money for it. Volunteers should ride buses and trains for free. There should be more places to serve.

The program regards services such as the voluntary social year (FSJ) as a contribution to social cohesion. State funding is to go up. Plans include free local transit tickets and additional placement opportunities.