The corona outbreak at industry giant Tönnies also has political consequences. Stricter laws should ensure better working conditions in the future. For this, the customer has to accept higher prices for meat that is currently cheaply sold.
According to workers' representatives of the Union fraction, better working conditions in large slaughterhouses are worth higher prices for meat. "We need honest prices," said the chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, Uwe Schummer
A draft bill from the Federal Ministry of Labor was announced on Wednesday. Exploitative conditions in parts of the meat industry are to be contained by tightening the law. According to the draft, consumer prices could rise as a result. The debate about tightening the law had picked up speed after the massive Corona outbreak at the industry giant Tönnies in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Schummer said: "We pay too high a price for cheap meat without responsibility for the conditions of production. Meat and animals are not junk."
Prohibition of contracts for work
Above all, work contracts should be banned in the industry. For Eastern European workers who work in the slaughterhouses through such contracts, working conditions are often far below average.
The German Trade Union Confederation called on the industry to make changes. "The meat barons would be well advised to finally change something in their businesses and business model instead of ducking away or even inventing new exploitative structures," said DGB board member Anja Piel. "You should take the power of critical consumers and the criticism of trade seriously."
Katja Mast, deputy chairwoman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, said: "We are determined to make the bill quickly become law. We are also prepared to resist. After all, we know the meat industry too well." The end is now with a business model that has been practiced for far too long. "And to all those who are now looking for loopholes again, it should be said today: We will continue to work on the topic after Corona, where necessary."
.