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Ulrich Silberbach: »The CDU/CSU was a guarantee for a strong public service for a long time«.
Now she seems to be concerned with deterring the next generation of professionals
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
At the start of the trade union day of the German Civil Service Association (DBB), its boss, Ulrich Silberbach, attacked the deputy CDU chairman Carsten Linnemann.
Linnemann had explained in a book that Germany was in a crisis.
Among other things, Linnemann called for a drastic curtailment of the civil service.
The DBB chairman accused the CDU deputy of “official bashing for book marketing”.
"The Linnaeans of this republic should better restore the constitutionality of civil servants' salaries," said Silberbach of the German Press Agency in Berlin.
According to this, the employer is obliged to grant the civil servant a reasonable living wage.
The German Association of Civil Servants had accused several countries of inadequate rules.
Silberbach criticizes "teacher de-employment and job cuts"
“If the crises of recent years have taught us anything, it is that we must strengthen public service, not demolish it,” said Silberbach.
There are actually big problems in Germany.
Silberbach included a shortage of skilled workers, aging and a "decay of the public infrastructure".
But he criticized: "All these 'reformers' can think of is de-employment of teachers and job cuts."
Silberbach, who is a member of the CDU himself, said: "For a long time, the CDU/CSU was a guarantee for a strong public service." Now she seems to be concerned with deterring young professionals.
A fight candidate
In a book and in interviews, Linnemann portrayed Germany as a country on the brink.
Prosperity that has been built up over decades is in danger of being lost due to bureaucracy and the weakening of personal initiative and entrepreneurial spirit.
One chapter is entitled "A country is choking on itself".
Before the DBB trade union congress in Berlin, which started on Sunday, a fight against Silberbach had become known.
The chairman of the Association of German Secondary School Teachers, Jürgen Böhm, is also running for the presidency.
Silberbach has been at the head of the DBB Association of Civil Servants and Tariff Union since 2017.
The 61-year-old received 330 out of 625 votes in a contest vote.
The DBB is an umbrella organization of trade unions, primarily in the public sector, and has around 1.3 million members.
He gathers employees and civil servants in his ranks.
Together with the Ver.di trade union, DBB represents employees in collective bargaining for the public sector.
The next collective bargaining round will begin on January 24th and will affect around 2.5 million federal and local employees.
The unions are demanding 10.5 percent more income for them.
lal/dpa