Trier: in support of the unemployed”Aktion Arbeit” (Action Work), a campaign promoted by the diocese in support of the unemployed, was presented in Trier in recent days. The campaign is aimed at realizing a model for a sustainable labour market, supported by the State. “The main problem is represented by the lack of jobs for those with lesser professional skills or those who have difficulty in finding work”, commented the Bishop of Trier, the Most Rev. Reinhard Marx during the presentation. The bishop lamented the lack of jobs for the long-term unemployed, in spite of the economic recovery. “Hitherto attempts have been made to qualify these workers, as also those with lower professional skills, for the normal labour market, but the fact is that there is mainly a demand for highly skilled personnel in this market”, with negative and often frustrating results for the job-seekers involved. Marx said he was in favour of a labour market supported by the State and a “change of direction” in government policy, with a view to the creation of a “third labour market”. “It is not only a task of the Church to keep alive discussion on this issue. We also wish to make concrete proposals”, declared Bishop Marx. “For the employer it must become more attractive to employ ‘persons with lower performance’, thanks to suitable incentives”. Hans Casel, whom the bishop has appointed to head Aktion Arbeit, described the specific characteristics of these incentives: they would take the form of “subsidies to investments, and to labour costs”, and to the assumption by the State of the “costs for the necessary re-skilling assistance”. Casel does not disguise the fact that these subsidies are costly; but he emphasizes that “in the long term employment in the third labour market is even more cost-beneficial that state unemployment benefits”. The competitiveness of a model that aims at developing the third labour market was also confirmed by the business consultant Benedikt Queins, who provided his own consultancy for the realization of the model. “Hypothesizing the creation of 800,000 jobs for a period of ten years, the model could become economically viable within six years”, he said. Bishop Marx explained that in any case what was at issue wasn’t only money but also the fact that “people have a job by which they could support themselves. So the proposal is not fanciful. It has been verified; it can work in practice”.Essen: the bishop and Nokia’s redundanciesThe Most Rev. Franz Grave, auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Essen, has criticized the redundancies planned by the cell-phone manufacturer Nokia at its plant in Bochum in spite of the growth in profits. Speaking on Domradio, the Catholic radio station of Cologne, Grave said “people are being confronted with facts they could neither have imagined nor known. This is a way of behaving that ignores and scorns any culture of respect and especially of participation”. Commenting on the figures of the profits presented by the firm, the bishop deplored the fact that “Nokia’s economic prospects are taking precedence over people. Yet man must always be placed at the centre of all efforts”. He also expressed pessimism about the outcome of the affair, but promised the support of the Church. “Now it’s important to begin talks”, he declared, adding that “as the Church we will place our contacts on the scales”.Aalen: a League for labourThe tenth anniversary of the establishment of the regional League for Labour in the district of Ostalb was celebrated at Aalen on 25 January. The culmination of the event was an ecumenical celebration in which a representative of the Protestant Church, Gabriele Wulz, and the prelate of the diocese of Rottenburg-Stoccarda, the Most Rev. Hubert Bour, participated. The association was founded in 1998 on the initiative of the Catholic Deanery of Aalen in support of the unemployed. It brings together not only the Churches, but also the local labour exchange, the district administrative authority, trades unions, various employers’ associations, businesses and representatives of anti-unemployment projects. “Together”, these various protagonists “represent a strong bond of solidarity with the unemployed”, declared the vice-president of the League, Pius Angstenberger. “Ever since its foundation, 561 members have joined the League: in total 221 organizations and 340 individuals”, said Ursula Richter, President. The funds so far raised and administered for the most varied anti-unemployment projects amount to 333,000 euros. The beneficiaries of the projects are especially unemployed youth and the long-term unemployed. But, as Bour pointed out, “behind the figures relating to the unemployed there is the life and future of people who, together with their families, have the right to solidarity and participation”.
