SPD on work and social affairs

The SPD wants to shape structural change so that no one is left behind. Investment in new jobs, retraining and regional business hubs is planned, especially in former mining regions.

The economy in the state is changing a lot. The SPD wants nobody to lose their future because of that. The state should pay for new jobs and retraining. This applies most to former mining areas.

Companies, unions, researchers and civil society would be involved early so that solutions gain acceptance. The program stresses that change works where local people can take part themselves. Projects such as "Revier Pionier" are therefore to be made permanent in the next legislative term. People who lose their jobs because of structural change should quickly get suitable help in their own region. The SPD considers a regionally organized labor market policy indispensable for this.

The SPD wants collectively agreed wages in all industries and stands by the state's Tariftreue- und Vergabegesetz (law tying public contracts to collective wage standards). Companies that systematically obstruct co-determination would lose access to state subsidies.

The SPD wants more people to be paid under union wage agreements. Workers should have a say in their company. Companies that block this should get no state funding. A state law on fair wages in public contracts should stay.

The law on wage standards in public procurement is to be neither abolished nor weakened by further exemptions. The SPD commits to the eight-hour day and the right to part-time work and wants protection from precarious employment. The state would support the founding of works councils and inform people about workers' rights. Companies that obstruct co-determination would face further sanctions beyond losing subsidies. Unions are to gain access to general and vocational schools. The SPD wants to back companies with good working conditions through funding, advice and certification.

The SPD aims for a training fund that all companies pay into, so that small and mid-sized firms that train apprentices are not at a disadvantage. It also wants a cheaper Deutschlandticket and driver's license for young people and paid mandatory internships.

The SPD wants a fund for job training. All companies should pay into it. Then companies that train young people are not worse off. A driver's license and the Deutschlandticket should cost young people less. Required internships should be paid.

In the program's view, the fund would strengthen quality, fairness and stability in the training market. A discounted Deutschlandticket (nationwide transit pass) is meant to make training places easier to reach. Because a driver's license is often needed to start a job, especially in rural areas, it should cost less. The internship bonus would cover all occupations, above all social, health and care professions. Mandatory internships during training, retraining and university studies should be paid, with the state leading the way where it is responsible.

The SPD wants to keep funding continuing education and permanently secure advisory structures such as the continuing education agencies. People who have had trouble finding work would be reached with targeted training offers.

The world of work is changing. So the SPD wants to keep paying for further training. Advice centers for this should stay for good. People without job training or with disabilities should also get fitting offers.

Support would cover both individual and in-company training. The advisory services of the state initiative "Fachkraft im Fokus" are to stay in place for good. A campaign would raise awareness of Bildungszeit (paid educational leave); afterward the SPD wants to check whether the entitlement matches demand. People without vocational qualifications, single parents, people with health limitations, women returning after career breaks and people with disabilities would get individual offers. For older workers, the program plans health promotion, age-appropriate workplaces and suitable working-time models.

The SPD wants to make it easier for people with disabilities to move from sheltered workshops into the general labor market. The platform argues that too many people work in workshops even though employers could use them.

Many people with disabilities work in special workshops. The SPD wants more of them to work in regular companies. The switch should become easier. Public offices should also hire more people with disabilities.

The transition is to be made easier in legal and organizational terms, mainly through the Budget für Arbeit und Ausbildung (a wage and training subsidy). Partnerships between companies and workshops are to be supported. The public sector is to open up more to people with disabilities, and the SPD wants to examine how comparable training qualifications can count in applications. The state commissioner for people with disabilities is to get more staff, and an office for plain language is to be set up in the responsible ministry. The reform of integration assistance continues, and the unanimity rule in the joint commission under Section 131 of Social Code IX is to be dropped.

The SPD names fighting poverty, especially among children and older people, as a central task. Help is to be quick to reach and free of stigma, and counseling services are to be strengthened across the state.

The SPD wants to fight poverty. Children and old people in particular should get help. Counseling services should be strengthened, for example for debt or addiction. Schools and public offices should offer free pads and tampons.

The platform notes that women are more often affected by poverty because of career breaks, part-time work and unpaid care work; the social security systems are to offset this. Food banks (Tafeln) will keep getting support. Menstrual products are to be available free of charge in schools, universities and public buildings. The SPD sees basic income support as a tool for activation, training and job placement, and job centers are to be equipped accordingly. The health and social administration is to be reorganized and digitized so that applications are processed faster.

The SPD wants to fight child poverty with a Kindergrundsicherung (basic child allowance) and launch a Bundesrat initiative for it. It also advocates a free hot lunch for all children and teenagers in daycare and school. According to the platform, one in seven children currently grows up in poverty.

The SPD wants to fight child poverty. It wants a basic child allowance. This is one payment that combines several kinds of help for children. All children should get a hot lunch in daycare and school. The lunch should be free.

The basic child allowance would combine existing benefits, simplify them, and secure a minimum standard of living. Because this is a matter of federal law, the state would act through the Bundesrat. The platform names good jobs for parents as the most effective protection against child poverty, supported by daycare and reliable all-day care. The lunch should be healthy and hot and guarantee every child and teenager a proper meal each day.

The SPD wants more reliable funding for voluntary service programs and wants to raise the allowance and the meal subsidy to a level that protects against poverty. At the federal level it will push for a legal right to a place.

Some people work for the community for a year as volunteers. The SPD wants to give them more pocket money. Everyone should have a right to a place. The SPD wants to push for this at the federal level.

The money is to come from the EU, the federal government and the state. It is meant to pay for a higher allowance, a higher meal subsidy and more funds for seminars. The SPD wants to make the programs better known and more attractive so that people of all ages and social backgrounds can take part. Volunteers are also to get discounts, for example on admission fees and transit tickets.

The SPD wants to pass collective bargaining results on to civil servants without delay, introduce a flat-rate health allowance and expand the rights of staff councils. According to the platform, this is meant to secure the attractiveness and performance of the public sector.

Civil servants should get pay raises right away. They should be free to choose public or private health insurance. Staff representatives should get more rights. The SPD wants to attract good people to work for the state.

The flat-rate allowance (pauschale Beihilfe) is to follow the model of other states so that civil servants with public health insurance are not worse off than those with private coverage. The staff representation law is to be thoroughly updated together with staff councils and unions. The public sector is to be an employer bound by collective agreements, with continuing education and modern ways of working. In tax investigation and tax audits, the SPD wants to concentrate capacity.