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Berlin wants to introduce the controversial “capital city allowance” of 150 euros a month for its state employees as planned, even if it could cause problems with other federal states. The Senate decided on Tuesday.
With the corresponding decision, the Senate risks coming into conflict with the collective bargaining community of the federal states (TdL), which had refused to let Berlin do it alone. In the worst case, it could result in expulsion. “Exclusion from the states’ collective bargaining community would suck,” said Finance Senator Matthias Kollatz (SPD).
Kollatz, who was very skeptical about the costly allocation of the capital city for a limited group of people in public service from the beginning, had to give up the power of the SPD parliamentary group in the end. The Social Democrats had pushed for the non-tariff concession, which dates back to a decision of the SPD party conference, before the crown crisis against government partners Green and Left.
After the TdL rejected the concession with a clear majority in July, the SPD immediately made it clear within the coalition that it would not depart from it. The risk of the State of Berlin being excluded from the collective bargaining community will also be accepted with approval. The Social Democrats were sure of the support of the civil service unions and the civil service federation. In this difficult situation, the left and the Greens did not want to be to blame: both parties of the coalition gave in internally.
130,000 civil servants did not want to turn against them, next year there will be elections in Berlin.
Exclusion from the collective bargaining community is entirely possible
The Finance Senator certainly did not have a chance to defend himself successfully, in the SPD parliamentary group he has been considered politically for a long time. Influential colleagues accuse him of working too often against the course of the parliamentary group, which is happy to distribute a lot of money with a view to the House of Representatives elections in fall 2021, for financial reasons. It is heard from TdL circles that an exclusion of the state of Berlin due to the allocation of the capital city is not mandatory, but possible. Discontent with Berlin is great.
“There will almost certainly be a discussion on exclusion at the TdL,” Kollatz said after the Senate meeting on Tuesday. If a motion for exclusion is made, the Senate can only try to convince enough countries to vote against it. “And then you just have to see. The arguments of the other federal states are not from nowhere, ”said the Senator for Finance. “I advise you a little humility.”
The TdL conducts collective bargaining by the employer on the working conditions of employees in the federal states. He has spoken out against the allocation that Berlin has announced for 1 November.
From the perspective of the TdL, the Berlin plan would weaken the collective agreement, Kollatz said. Especially in the crisis of the crown, the allocation appears in other places as out of time.
Around 124,000 civil servants and employees of the public service will receive the allocation.
Because financial resources are limited, they should not be tied to an allocation, the Berlin senator explained the opposing party’s position and made it clear that he understands the concerns: “The arguments cannot be dismissed out of hand.”
The formal consequences of an exclusion are manageable. “If they excluded us, the issue would be a bit fragmented. And this fragmentation is not an advantage, “said Kollatz. In the case of collective bargaining, there would have to be special negotiations for Berlin in the future. Economic Affairs Senator Ramona Pop (Greens) has reportedly warned in the Senate that an expulsion from TdL is possible.
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The “capital allocation” will be awarded to some 124,000 civil servants and public employees earning less than about 5,000 euros. Kollatz named 240 million euros as an “estimate” for associated spending per year. “Hopefully we have not implemented everything by November 1,” Kollatz said. But he’s optimistic that it will work this year.
State employees can obtain the 150 euros per month of the capital allowance in the form of a job ticket plus cash allowance. “That is financially much more attractive,” said the finance senator. “The amounts that are paid for the job ticket are tax free.” But if you don’t want that, you can do without the job ticket. However, he hoped, also for ecological reasons, that only a few would make this decision. (with dpa)
