Wage Dispute in Retail Sector Settled
The several-week long wage dispute in the retail sector
was settled last night. The agreement between employers and
trade unions in Rhineland-Palatinate takes into consideration
the business hour law and therefore has pilot character for the
other states. The settlement found after 17 hours of talks
between employers and HBV and DAG unions will take effect
November 1. For the additional shop opening hours, employees
will get 20% extra pay. Employees will have to work late
three days per week at most, and no more than three Saturdays a
month. It is recommended that no workday shall be longer than
8.5 hours. An employee who has or wants to work more, has to be
compensated by a 4-day week or a long weekend. Working late can
be refused by certain employees, like parents with children under
the age of 15, employees who have to nurse relatives, commuters
who would have extremly bad connections otherwise, and apprentices
the day before and after a day of theoretical training.
The trade unions of Rhineland-Palatinate estimate that the
agreement will influence the negotiations in the other
bargaining districts, though formally, the retail sector does not
apply pilot agreements. The German Retailer Association
however takes a different opinion. Its General Executive Manager,
Mr. Genzel, told SUEDDEUTSCHER RUNDFUNK radio, that in particular the
aggreement on extra pay for the longer opening hours on Saturdays is
not acceptable.
The 125,000 employees in the retail sector of Rhineland-Palatinate will
also get a general pay rise of 1.85% backdated to May 1.
No Improvement on the Job Market
The number of people looking for jobs in Germany rose to 3.91 million
in June. According to the Federal Labour Office, this is an increase of
127,000 compared to one month before, and an increase of 321,000
compared to one year ago. That means that the unemployment rate increased
from 9.9% to 10.2% within one month - in West Germany it is now at 9.0%,
and at 15.4% in the East.
The rise has only seasonal reasons, explained Federal Labour Office's
President Bernhard Jagoda. As usual in June, the number of unemployed
increases due to holiday related and end-of-quarter dismissals, fewer
people are hired because of works holidays, and a high number of
graduates from vocational schools. In his opinion, the situation on the
job market will improve in September at the latest. In the past half
year, 30,000 jobs have been lost every month, said Jagoda. He also called
the situation on the market of professional training particularly serious
and difficult. Countrywide, there is only one training position in average
for any two applicants.
The trade unions and the SPD opposition in the Bundestag (Lower House of
Parliament) blame the Federal Government's wrong savings policies for the
crisis on the job market. In Bonn, General Secratary of the governing CDU
Peter Hintze defended the budget cuts. The SPD should no longer try
to prevent their implementation, he stressed.
Demonstration against Priebke Ruling
In Italy, numerous people demonstrated last evening against the
acquittal of former SS officer Erich Priebke. In Rome, some 6,000
demonstrators commemorated the victims of the massacre in the Ardeatine
caves 52 years ago when 335 civilists were murdered by Nazis.
Priebke had pleaded guilty for having taken part in the murder. Nonetheless
the Roman military court acquitted him. The ruling is bitter and hurts,
said Mayor Rutelli, who had called for the manifestation. The President
of the Senate, Mr. Mancini took an even stronger view: never before
has there been such a discrepancy between the law spoken in the court room
and the sense of justice which lives in the hearts of the people.
President of Parliament, Luciano Violante called for an intense covering
of Nazi faschism in school, where no neutral point of view should be taken.
Those who are indifferent support the oppressors and void the martyrs.
The Minister of Justice, Mr. Flick asked the crowd to support the surviving
dependants of the victims, and Prime Minister Romano Prodi declared,
that his presence testified the pain of the whole country and their
respect for the martyrs in the Ardeatine trenches.
Train Crash Near Petershausen
The railway line between Munich and Petershausen was closed till the
late afternoon after a train crash near Petershausen. In the early
morning, several carriages of a cargo train collided with an empty local
train. Property damage is in the million range, though nobody was hurt.
At 2:42am, some rear carriages uncoupled from the cargo train carrying
lorries. As a consequence the waggons derailed and crashed into
an empty local train parked in the station of Petershausen. One carriage
of the local train caught fire and was completely destroyed. A great force
of police and fire brigade was however able to quickly get the fire
under control.
The engine driver and the 18 lorry drivers, who left the Brenner for
Manching close to Ingolstadt the night before, were all in the
front part of the cargo train, that was not damaged.
Currently police are still investigating the cause of the derailing of
the eleven carriages, which was supposedly a technical defect.
Toepfer for Changes of the New Business Hour Law
Federal Construction Minister Klaus Toepfer has taken up again
the discussion about the only recently changed business hour law.
In a newpaper interview he proposed to restrict the longer
opening hours to the inner cities. This should prevent a further moving
of shops to the outskirts of towns. The inner cities could so become
busier again and should be designed more attractive, Toepfer said. It is
necessary to make it possible again to be in a city at any time of day
without having fear. In addition the areas of living, working, education
and recreation should be linked again.
Mostar Crisis Settled
Negotiations between the European Union and Muslims and Croats
in Mostar continued last night. Meanwhile, however, the dispute has
been settled. Mr. Kaschitz (sp?), the EU spokesman, said the Muslim
and Croat delegations signed an agreement that allows for the newly
elected municipal council to be assembled and the mayor to be elected.
This had so far been opposed by the Croats since they did not want to
recognise the results of the local elections of June 30 because of
alleged irregularities.
Higher Number of Asylum Seekers
The number of persons searching asylum in Germany increased by
15.5% compared to a month ago. According to the Federal Ministry
of the Interior, 9,500 persons asked for asylum in July. This, however,
was a decrease of 7% compared to July 1995 - the numbers of June were the
lowest since 1989. Again, most asylum seekers came from Turkey and the
former Yugoslavia.
Former Minister of Transport Severly Injured in Bicycle Accident
The former Minister of Transport of Baden-Wuerttemberg,
Mr. Schaefer was seriously injured in a traffic accident close to Offenburg
ten days ago. According to the newspaper ULMER SUEDWESTPRESSE, Schaefer
was hit by a car while riding on his bicycle. He suffered inner bleedings
and rip fractures. The newspaper reports that Schaefer's life is no longer
threatened.
FDP for Supervised Distribution of Heroin
The FDP faction in the coalition government of the State
of Baden-Wuerttemberg supports a supervised distribution of heroin
to drug addicts. The Liberals want to start talks with their coalition
partner, the CDU, and the faction of the FDP in the Bundestag
(Lower house of parliament), to discuss a corresponding ammendment of
the Narcotics Law. The justice expert of the faction, Mr. Kieswetter
said the first step towards a supervised hand-out would
necessarily be a pilot test in several towns.
Five Deaths in Crash of Police Helicopter
Five persons died in a crash of a police helicopter in the
State of Schleswig-Holstein. The helicopter carrying a group of divers
of Hamburg Police crashed into the Baltic Sea during an excercise close
to Neustadt in Holstein. Eyewitnesses said the helicopter exploded
in the air shortly before touching the water surface. According to
first findings, a rescue basket that got caught in the rear engine
after a gust could have caused the crashed.