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DGB: People with disabilities are particularly affected by the labor market crisis
On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) is sounding the alarm: Unemployment among people with disabilities is rising significantly . As DGB Executive Board member Anja Piel emphasizes, the current strained economic situation is hitting this group particularly hard – both in terms of job losses and re-entry into the workforce.
"A damning indictment of labor market policy"
Many people with disabilities, despite good qualifications, are demonstrably unemployed longer than people without disabilities. Piel also criticizes the fact that employees with disabilities being forced out of their jobs in some companies through termination agreements . This allows employers to circumvent both special protection against dismissal and legal obligations for reintegration.
The DGB therefore demands:
- The mandatory participation of the representative body for severely disabled employees in all personnel decisions.
A decision made without their consultation may not take effect – not even in the case of termination agreements. - A legal entitlement to workplace reintegration management (BEM) for people after a prolonged illness, in order to enable a return to the workplace.
"Equal participation is a human right"
Piel emphasizes that all these demands are derived from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities . Equal participation in work is a human right for which the unions will "fight until this right is consistently enforced in companies."
(RED/PM/DGB)
