War in Ukraine, rising energy prices and the botched NRW election: Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz answered questions from citizens on “RTL direct”. The Chancellor was not always able to convince with his answers, and yet he showed a very human, concerned side.
“Do you want to fly to Kyiv, Mr. Scholz?” was the question asked by a Ukrainian who has lived in Germany for 16 years and is afraid for her parents. Yesterday she sat at the table with Olaf Scholz on the “RTL direct” program and couldn’t understand why the Chancellor was hesitating for so long. Scholz replied that he had been on the phone with the Ukrainian President for many hours and had also spoken to him personally at a number of meetings. And that he had to bring something with him for a meeting. A very human moment of inner turmoil, as the head of the capital city studio of RTL and ntv, Jutta Bielig-Wonka, analyses.
“Olaf Scholz described a bit what it’s like when he talks to Putin. And that none of that helps, that it is not clear how long this war will last, that there is no insight at all, this war to end. What is the whole thing, it almost broke out of Scholz and you got an impression of how much these cold Hanseatic citizens are concerned about this war and how heavy the burden of responsibility is,” said Jutta Bielig-Wonka in the 276th Episode of the podcast “important today”.
Collective bargaining on daycare wages: “Work to rule is a form of strike”
What is one of the most common prejudices about social professions? Many people pursue their great passion, selflessly take care of others – but earn far too little money. Many employees see it the same way – and have therefore been taking to the streets again and again for weeks. These strikes could be over after Tuesday or Wednesday, however, because the Verdi union and the civil servants’ association dbb are already negotiating in the third wage round with the Association of Municipal Employers’ Associations (VAK) after the negotiations in February and March failed. More money and staff are required, Verdi boss Frank Werneke told the German Press Agency: “The psychological strain is great for many colleagues in daycare centers, in social work, in aid for the disabled after two years of the pandemic.”
Incidentally, in Germany there is a completely different strike culture than in other countries, explains the political scientist and leading strike researcher Jörg Nowak in the podcast “important today”. That was due to a so-called social partnership: “When conditions in the GDR were better than in the Federal Republic in the 1960s, there was an emigration. That’s why West Germany had to offer better working conditions than other countries because there was system competition.” The educators could now also benefit from this.
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