NEWS FROM BERLIN
Climate activist jailed for one year and four months
The Tiergarten district court has sentenced a 32-year-old ‘Last Generation’ activist to a prison sentence for one year and four months without probation. Between October 2022 and February 2023, she constantly taped herself to roads or to traffic sign bridges and, together with other activists, she started road blockades. On 7 March 2023, the group also carried out a paint attack on the listed façade of the Federal Ministry of Transport with the help of a rented fire engine. According to reports, the removal of the paint cost around 7,400 euros. Source: rbb
Ver.di puts indefinite strikes for daycare centres to a vote
The trade union ver.di wis to call on its members among daycare centre employees in Berlin to vote on strikes for an indefinite period. The ballot is to begin at the beginning of September. If more than 75 per cent vote in favour of a so-called enforced strike, ver.di could call for an indefinite strike in state-owned daycare centres, according to the union’s statement. Explaining its decision, ver.di said that the Senate has still not signalled that it will enter into negotiations. This week warning strikes are expected in the capital, but without actual closures. Source: rbb
NEWS FROM GERMANY
Lieferando: backdoor wage cuts?
‘Lieferando Workers Collective’ (LWC) protested in Berlin against the big delivery company. The LWC claims to have collected 330 signatures as part of a petition to draw attention to inadequate working conditions. A new pay scale is causing such discontentment. In the future, full-time employees will earn 300 to 400 euros less net, explains a member of the LWC at the rally. Previously, a delivery-based ‘peak time bonus’ of two euros per order applied to particularly order-intensive shifts. This performance-based regulation has been criticised for everal reasons, among them them is the increase in the risk of accidents. ‘Lieferando has not reduced wages,’ the company continues to claim. Source: nd-aktuell
A tough world
A lawsuit filed by the daily newspaper ‘Junge Welt’ against the Federal Republic of Germany was dismissed by the Berlin Administrative Court on Thursday. The newspaper published in Berlin had taken legal action against being labelled as ‘left-wing extremist’ in the Federal Ministry of the Interior’s report. According to ‘Junge Welt’ in a special edition on the subject, the term ‘left-wing extremist’ is not only damaging to business, but also contradicts freedom of the press and freedom of opinion. ‘Junge Welt’ intends to take its case, rejected at first instance, all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. Source: nd-akutell
Germany’s coalition agrees on a budget for next year
Germany’s Cabinet has agreed on a draft budget for 2025, with policies intended to counter recent weak economic growth. The total budget for 2025 is €480.6 billion – €8 billion less than in 2024. Despite this, Germany’s finance ministry has allocated a record €78 billion for investments. However, the budget is not as thrifty as some expected, with most parts of government receiving more money than last year, including the transport, interior, family, defense, foreign and education ministries. Tax advantages are planned, among other things, to attract foreign skilled workers to Germany and to increase spending on research and development. Source: dw
