As of: February 27, 2024, 9:15 a.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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The CDU politician Christian Herrgott on the ZDF program Markus Lanz, which was broadcast on February 22, 2024 (archive photo).
© Imago/teutopress GmbH
Christian Herrgott is district administrator in the Saale-Orla district.
The CDU politician now lets refugees do charitable work.
The measure is intended to increase acceptance among the population.
Saale-Orla district – The district election in the Saale-Orla district was seen as a mood test for the elections in Thuringia.
Christian Herrgott from the CDU won the runoff election in January with 52.4 percent against AfD man Uwe Thrum, who received 47.6 percent of the vote.
Now the 39-year-old CDU politician is implementing a previously little-noticed rule from the asylum law: jobs for refugees.
CDU politician Christian Herrgott lets asylum seekers work for 80 cents an hour
Accordingly, residents of shared accommodation will have to do charitable work in the future, as the
Bild
newspaper reported.
These include, for example, activities such as shoveling snow, trimming hedges or cleaning streets.
The refugees work four hours a day and receive 80 cents per hour.
For comparison: The legal minimum wage on the German labor market is generally 12.41 euros if it does not involve charitable work.
People from the shared accommodation who do charitable work are paid an extra 64 euros per month.
The money is to be paid out on the payment card coming from March, which is intended to prevent misuse of services, but is controversial.
According to the CDU politician, if someone does not want to carry out charitable activities, they should receive 180 euros less in support per month.
The measure is intended to increase acceptance of asylum seekers among the population
The measure is intended to increase the acceptance of asylum seekers among the population.
“We are now implementing the district council decision step by step, but with vigor.
“I have to motivate anyone who doesn’t want to work,” said the CDU politician to
Bild
.
"It's about sending a signal that people who are paid with tax money have to give something back to society and not sit on a park bench all day." According to experts, the basic problem is not that the majority of asylum seekers don't want to work, but is not allowed to work.
Admission to the labor market involves a lot of bureaucracy and takes months or years.
In the first three months or when the refugees live in an initial reception center, they are generally prohibited from working.
The only permissible exception is work opportunities with state, municipal and non-profit organizations - Herrgott is now using this rule.
The CDU politician stated that those “who have already been signed up are already asking whether they could also go to work properly.” From his point of view, the measure “provides movement.”
Germany suffers from a labor shortage.
An immigration of 1.5 million immigrants would be necessary every year, the chairwoman of the economics department Monika Schnitzer recently warned.
This has concrete consequences for the German economy: According to a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, four out of ten companies expected at the end of 2023 that they would have to reject orders or lose them because the necessary staff were missing - and that they would have to limit their offerings.
It's not just about skilled workers.
Panu Poutvaara, migration researcher at the Ifo Institute, told WDR that workers are urgently needed, especially in the healthcare and construction sectors.