SPD Faction in the German Bundestag Rejects CDU’s Proposal for Mandatory Work for Recipients of Basic Income
The SPD faction in the German Bundestag has rejected a proposal by CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann to make recipients of basic income who are capable of working, do so. “Mr. Linnemann’s proposal once again shows that the Union does not have real solutions to offer” said Martin Rosemann, the SPD’s parliamentary group’s spokesperson for labor and social policy, to the Welt newspaper.
Rosemann called the proposal a “grasp at the moth-eaten labor market policy chest” and said that in times of labor shortages and rising employment, the focus should be on improving the matching of job seekers and job openings, as well as removing obstacles that prevent people from taking up work, such as a lack of childcare and health issues.
Gitta Connemann, a CDU member of parliament and chair of the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT), welcomed Linnemann’s proposal as “consequential and just” saying it would protect the acceptance and financing of the social welfare state in the long run. She said that those who can work should do so, and that those who refuse job offers without good reason have no right to solidarity.
Jens Teutrine, the FDP’s parliamentary group’s spokesperson for basic income, also expressed openness to a work obligation for recipients of basic income. “It is social to support those in need, but not those who fake need” he said. “Those who can work but do not, should not have the right to the comprehensive benefits of the social welfare state” he added.
Sören Pellmann, the chair of the Left Party’s parliamentary group, criticized the proposal, saying that it was reminiscent of dark times and that a general forced labor obligation was unconstitutional and a cynical demand in the face of rising unemployment. The Left Party, he said, would continue to advocate for a planned economic policy, including massive investments in the reconstruction of the country’s infrastructure, which would create regular jobs.
René Springer, the AfD’s parliamentary group’s spokesperson for labor and social affairs, saw Linnemann’s proposal as a “gigantic credibility problem” for the CDU and CSU, and said that the AfD had long advocated for an “activating basic security” as an alternative to basic income. The AfD plans to introduce a “citizen’s work” in non-profit areas of 15 hours a week for all recipients of basic income who have been receiving it for more than six months, in order to activate those who have become institutionalized in the system and to make it more difficult for people to access the black market. Those who refuse this “citizen’s work” should only receive in-kind benefits, Springer said, and the last option would be the complete withdrawal of all benefits.