NEWS FROM BERLIN
Hundreds of contract workers at Tesla have to go
In recent months, Tesla has employed more than 10,000 people in Grünheide. The plant now produces thousands of cars every week. Hundreds of temporary workers, however, must leave. The company does not see this as a problem: “the Berlin-Brandenburg factory continues to be on a successful ramp-up,” the company told DPA. During the ramp-up – that is, the period between initial commissioning and full operation – temporary workers were used, as is customary in the industry, it said. “This service will continue to be needed in the future, but to a lesser extent.” Dirk Schulze, district leader of IG-Metall, criticised the layoffs. “Every job cut is painful.” Source: rbb24
Payment of outstanding wages demanded
The trade union ver.di has demanded that a Berlin aviation security company should pay outstanding wages for the month of May. Among others, employees in Berlin and especially at airports in Baden-Wuerttemberg such as Karlsruhe/Baden and Friedrichshafen are affected, Accordingly, the amounts at stake are between 1,300 euros gross for part-time workers and 3,500 euros gross for full-time workers, plus bonuses. “This causes great hardship for the employees, as they cannot meet rent payments, outstanding bills or other payment obligations,” said ver.di representative Wolfgang Pieper. ESA Luftsicherheit GmbH, the company in question, has not responded to requests until early Tuesday evening. Source: jW
Planning for new cycle paths in Berlin has stopped
Berlin’s transport senator Manja Schreiner (CDU) announced the cancellation of already planned cycle path projects with an impact on car traffic. The Greens and the Left in the House of Representatives had requested a special session of the mobility committee on the background of the planning stop. Last Tuesday it became clear that there would be no such meeting. The CDU and SPD see no reason to support the motion. Exactly how many cycle path plans will fall victim to the new “togetherness” of the transport senator is still unclear. Source: nd-aktuell
NEWS FROM GERMANY
Label suspends collaboration with Rammstein
The record company responsible for Rammstein’s marketing and promotional activities is limiting its cooperation with the band. The reason is the accusations against Till Lindemann. Several women accuse the Rammstein frontman of severe sexual violence. Last Wednesday, the public prosecutor’s office in Berlin opened an investigation against the 60-year-old singer. The rock band’s record label is now distancing itself from the musician. It says it is convinced that a “full clarification of the allegations, also by the authorities, is absolutely necessary and must also be in the interest of the entire band”. Source: zdf
Tourist dies after attack at Neuschwanstein Castle
Near the world-famous sight, a 30-year-old man injured two young women last Wednesday. The crime took place not far from the Marienbrücke – a popular meeting place for tourists due to its good view of the castle. According to the press spokesman of the public prosecutor’s office, the trio walked together along a path. The man then attacked the younger woman. When her 22-year-old companion tried to intervene, he allegedly pushed her down a ravine. Also, an attempted sexual offence may have been committed against the 21-year-old woman. The man then pushed her down the slope as well. The attacker was arrested. Source: dw
Greifswald residents vote against accommodation for refugees
The majority in Greifswald voted against container accommodations for refugees on municipal land in a referendum last Sunday. It will now be difficult for the district to accommodate the refugees. No more municipal land may be used for this purpose in the next two years. “This is a democratic decision. It goes without saying that we accept it,” Greifswald’s mayor Stefan Fassbinder (Greens) said in the evening. “The district administrator will have a harder time accommodating refugees. The result clearly shows that the topic of immigration still needs to be discussed intensively.” Source: spiegel
Schwerin remains SPD
In the run-off election for mayor of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s state capital Schwerin, the SPD incumbent Rico Badenschier prevailed on Sunday with 67.8 per cent to 32.2 per cent of the vote against the AfD candidate Leif-Erik Holm. Other democratic parties in the city can also feel a bit like winners. With the almost united stand of the democratic parties and Sunday’s election result, all that remains for Holm is that he was the first AfD politician to make it into a run-off election and thus caused a stir that extended beyond the north-east. Source: nd-aktuell
Migration increases population in Germany
Without immigration, Germany’s population would shrink. Now because of high immigration, never has Germany had so many inhabitants. The population grew significantly by 1.3 per cent or 1.1 million people in 2022. This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden. Accordingly, a good 84.4 million people lived in the Federal Republic at the end of 2022. The proportion of foreigners in the total population increased from 13.1 per cent to 14.6 per cent. The number of people with foreign citizenship increased significantly, while the number of German citizens decreased by 0.4 per cent. Source: dw
