SPD on work and social affairs

The SPD stands by the statutory minimum wage and wants to develop it further. Mini-jobs (low-paid marginal jobs) are to become much less common and be converted into regular jobs with social insurance where possible. It also wants to keep helping the unemployed, especially the long-term unemployed, into work.

The SPD wants fair wages. The minimum wage should stay and keep developing. There should be fewer mini-jobs. Mini-jobs should turn into regular jobs with social insurance. People without work should get help finding a job.

The state's labor market programs are to support people entering or re-entering work and place them in training, with a special focus on the long-term unemployed. Newcomers are to find work quickly; the platform points to its job coaches for refugees. Women are to get support in leaving involuntary part-time work, and flexible work models are to make family and career easier to combine. Long-serving employees whose jobs are at risk are to receive intensive help. The SPD also wants more advice services for posted and mobile workers from EU countries.

The SPD wants public contracts and subsidies to go, as a rule, only to companies that comply with collective bargaining agreements. To that end, the state's Tariftreuegesetz (law on compliance with collective agreements) is to be revised in order to raise collective bargaining coverage.

A collective agreement sets pay and working conditions. The SPD wants more companies to pay by such agreements. Only those companies should get government contracts. The same should apply to public subsidies. The SPD wants to change a state law for this.

In the platform's view, good work is only possible with collective agreements. The SPD regards the federal law on compliance with collective agreements as an important step. Within the state, every available means of promoting collective bargaining coverage is to be used. The requirement is to apply to public subsidies as well as contracts.

The SPD wants to modernize the law governing works councils and broaden their rights, including over the use of artificial intelligence. Obstructing works council activity is to be prosecuted more consistently. In the party's view, strong unions and works councils are needed to shape change in the world of work.

A works council speaks for the employees in a company. The SPD wants to give it more rights. It should also have a say when AI is used. Anyone who obstructs a works council should be punished. Special prosecutors should handle these cases.

Co-determination is to apply even when parts of a business are spun off or sites are relocated, and it should be possible to enforce company agreements on future plans. The plan also includes an updated legal definition of employee and digital rights for works councils. To prosecute obstruction of works councils, the SPD aims to set up a specialized public prosecutor's office. Workforces without representation are to get help organizing co-determination. The platform also wants to develop occupational health and safety further and pay more attention to mental health.

The SPD wants to push at the federal level for a crisis version of Kurzarbeitergeld (short-time work allowance) lasting 24 months and anchored in law. It is meant to protect jobs during periods of economic upheaval and be tied to mandatory training.

In short-time work, employees work less and the state pays part of their wage. The SPD wants a special short-time allowance for crises. It should be paid for 24 months. During that time, employees should learn new skills.

The platform sees the short-time work allowance as a proven tool for preserving jobs and economic stability in crises. At the federal level it is to involve less red tape and become more flexible. The new crisis allowance is intended for times when economic upheaval puts heavy strain on companies and their workforces. Training during short-time work is to be compulsory.

The SPD wants to keep developing the state's skilled-worker strategy and adapt it to labor market needs. Small and medium-sized companies are to get help drawing up their own strategies, and advisory services are to be pooled in one central service office.

Many jobs lack skilled workers. The SPD wants to improve the state's plan against this. Small companies should get help. One central office should bring all advice together.

The strategy was updated in 2022 with the partners of the Ovaler Tisch (a round table of labor market partners) and is to be adjusted further. The program lists STEM education from daycare to university, more career guidance in all schools, better transitions from school to work and a modernized dual vocational training system. Women, international workers and people with disabilities are to get better chances on the labor market. Existing advisory services are to be linked more closely and merged into a central office for securing skilled workers.

The SPD wants to launch a continuing-education drive together with companies, unions and training providers. At the federal level it calls for a right to further training and a broader Qualifizierungsgeld (training allowance) so that support starts earlier.

The SPD wants people to be able to learn all their lives. There should be a big push for further training. At the federal level there should be a right to further training. The employment agency should be able to pay for courses earlier.

The program justifies the drive with the changes brought by digitalization, climate protection and demographics. Companies that train their employees in a targeted way are to be supported. The Qualifizierungsgeld is to be changed so that the Federal Employment Agency can fund training even without an employer contribution once jobs are at risk. On artificial intelligence, the SPD's principle is that it should support people and not replace them.

The SPD wants to expand the Transformationsagentur Rheinland-Pfalz (state transformation agency) as a contact point for companies and employees, especially on the use of artificial intelligence. A state initiative is to help workers without a vocational qualification obtain one later.

The world of work is changing a lot. A state agency should advise companies and workers on this. This applies especially to artificial intelligence. People without a job qualification should be able to get one later.

The agency is to promote AI skills in companies and guide a responsible, people-centered use of technology. On-site support and in-company skilled-worker advisers are meant to help mainly small and medium-sized companies develop strategies and train staff. Regional transformation and training networks will be expanded. The SPD wants to fund first practical AI projects with small grants and tie them to training for employees.

The SPD commits to a strong welfare state and also wants social administration to work faster and more simply. It also wants to find ways to give municipalities lasting relief on social spending.

The SPD wants a strong welfare state. It should help people who are sick, poor, or out of work. Offices should work faster and more simply. Cities and towns should carry fewer costs.

Together with municipalities, benefit agencies, and service providers, the party wants to examine how administration can become more effective. A joint report by the state and municipalities is the basis for studying how social spending affects public budgets. From this, options for lasting relief for municipal finances are to be developed. The social infrastructure is to become a connected, barrier-free support system.

The SPD wants to strengthen the network of counseling services in villages and neighborhoods and secure its funding. Contact points are to offer different kinds of help in one place, because several problems often come together in a crisis.

The SPD wants to strengthen counseling in villages and neighborhoods. People get help there with debt, addiction, or care. Different kinds of help should be in one place. Applying for help should get easier.

Counseling is to be local, outreach-based, or digital, for example on social issues, care, debt, and addiction. The platform names independent welfare organizations, adult education providers, and the consumer advice center as partners. Counseling close to home is to be kept in rural areas. The 135 care advice centers are to become social counseling centers, and new contact points are to combine prevention, counseling, care, and health services.

The SPD wants to double the number of professionals in the state program Gemeindeschwesterplus. The program offers older people preventive home visits so they can live independently at home for a long time. Seniors' participation and civic engagement are also to be supported.

Trained staff visit older people at home and give advice. The program is called Gemeindeschwesterplus. The SPD wants to hire twice as many staff for it. Older people should be able to live at home for a long time.

More than 100 full-time positions are planned. According to the platform, the service has existed since 2015 and is now available in every county and independent city. It is meant to reach men and people with a migration background better and, in the party's view, also counters loneliness. The SPD also wants to strengthen local services for seniors and support their involvement in volunteering, senior councils, and as digital ambassadors.

The SPD wants to preserve and support meeting places in villages, towns and neighborhoods because, in its view, loneliness is growing across all age groups. An action plan against loneliness is to be carried out and a funding program for volunteering continued.

Many people feel lonely. So the SPD wants to support meeting places in villages and cities. People should be able to meet there without spending money. A plan against loneliness should help. Older people get help with using the internet.

The platform lists village halls, neighborhood centers, village shops, village offices, clubs, sports facilities and village pubs. Town centers and village cores are to be supported through urban development and village renewal funding and made accessible. The SPD wants to strengthen adult education centers and libraries as community spaces. The action plan "MitMenschen! Rheinland-Pfalz gegen Einsamkeit" is to be implemented, and the program "Miteinander statt einsam" continued and reviewed regularly. The network of more than 700 digital ambassadors who help older people get online is to grow.

The SPD wants to remove barriers in all areas of life and create a state competence center for accessibility. The 2021 state inclusion law is to be implemented further, and the state action plan on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reviewed and updated together with those affected.

The SPD wants to remove obstacles for people with disabilities. A new state advice center should help with this. It advises towns, public offices and companies. Public offices should offer more texts in plain language. Public buildings should be open to everyone.

The new center is to pool expertise and advise municipalities, the state administration and businesses on legal rules, standards and practical solutions. Money from the infrastructure initiative is to go into accessible public buildings. Government services and communication are to become fully accessible, with key content also offered in plain language. The action plan is to include clear goals and measurable progress. The SPD also wants to keep supporting special-needs daycare centers, therapeutic education facilities, the state commissioner for people with disabilities and inclusive child and youth services.

The SPD wants more people with disabilities to work in the regular labor market. To that end, the Budget für Arbeit (a wage subsidy for employers) is to be expanded, more inclusive companies created and the integration services strengthened.

People with disabilities should find regular jobs more easily. The SPD wants to give more support for this. There should be more inclusive companies. These are firms where people with and without disabilities work together. Special services help young people start their working life.

The platform notes that the Budget für Arbeit has already created more than 500 jobs in the state. This tool is to grow, and companies are to be connected with skilled workers with disabilities. The number of inclusive companies is to rise. The SPD wants to strengthen the integration services that guide young people into working life. The platform describes the work of sheltered workshops as important.

The SPD wants to prevent and overcome poverty and sees work as the main route out of it. It relies on training, debt counseling, local prevention offices and an expansion of programs against child and youth poverty.

The SPD wants nobody to live in poverty. Work should protect people from being poor. So there is help with training and finding a job. People in debt get advice. Children from poor families should get more support. Young people should learn to handle money well.

Coaching, training and further education are meant to open new opportunities for the long-term unemployed and low-skilled workers; immigrants are to move into work quickly. Debt and insolvency counseling remains a focus, and its funding has been raised and indexed. The SPD wants to keep funding volunteer groups that distribute surplus food. Local service offices in municipalities are to link poverty prevention with social planning. Together with debt counselors and consumer advice centers, financial education formats for young people are to be developed, and single parents are to get particular support.