WORLD WORLDWIDE GERMANY News Journal Update - (en) Germany, FAU, direkte aktion: LOW WAGE PRISON IS A FAR FROM END (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 "Statutory regulations on remuneration for prison labor in Bavaria and North

Rhine-Westphalia are unconstitutional" is the bureaucratic headline of a press
release by the Federal Constitutional Court dated June 20. ---- Operations &
Society By: Peter Nowak - June 28, 2023 ---- Good news for the more than 40,000
prisoners working for wages, one might think. ---- And it is also a success for
the prisoner union/nationwide organization (GG/BO), which commented on the
verdict from Karlsruhe with the sober sentence: "Prisoner union expects wages to
rise in prison". ---- The GG/BO was founded in Berlin in 2013 and then quickly
expanded throughout Germany because it had three central demands. In addition to
the fight for union freedom in prison, this also included minimum wages in
prisons and all wage-working prisoners should also have pension and health
insurance. The fact that the GG/BO spread so quickly was also due to the fact
that the more than 40,000 prisoners in Germany supported these two
socio-political demands with a large majority. They just didn't want to put up
with having to slave away for a fee that ranged between EUR 1.37 and EUR 2.30 an
hour. It was also clear to them that they would be released into old age poverty
after often working in prison for many years. The GG/BO cleared up the prejudice
of the prisoners sticking to their bags, who allegedly did not create any added
value in prison. In reality, there are many companies that benefit from the
low-wage prison sector.

THE BENEFICIARIES OF THE LOW-WAGE PRISON SECTOR
"German prisons let their inmates work for private companies - for a fraction of
the minimum wage. The judiciary wants to keep secret who benefits from it," says
a research by Correctiv. The fact that there have been many critical reports
about the low-wage prison sector in the middle-class media in recent years is a
success for the GG/BO. When it was founded, it made it clear that the prison
would also become a zone of labor and class struggle. The repressive state
apparatus wanted to prevent that at first.

Immediately after the GG/BO was founded, there were cell raids on the two
initiators in the Tegel prison. The lists with the first GG/BO members were also
confiscated at first. The large and quite positive media response to the founding
of the GG/BO meant that the state apparatus held back with repression. Especially
in the first few months, the activity of the solidarity groups with the GG/BO was
very important. It consisted of supporters from outside the prisons, who ensured
that the core demands of the prison union quickly became known to the public.
This also included the diverse contacts with different trade unions. An important
supporter of the prisoners' trade union from the beginning was the photographer
Lara Melin, who died young. FAU was part of this from the start. Some subgroups
of the DGB union Verdi also declared their solidarity with the GG/BO. However,
this met with resistance from the prison workers organized by Verdi, who refused
to be organized in the same union as prison inmates.

It was treated like a stamp club. The prisoners could work there, but it was not
recognized as a union. Because the legislature is still of the opinion that there
are no wages in prison. Therefore, one of the central demands of the GG/BO was
freedom of trade unions behind bars.

PROBLEMS OF UNION WORK BEHIND BARS
But the GG/BO work also quickly reached its limits. Long-term political
organization behind prison walls is only possible in the rarest of cases. Active
GG/BO members were released from prison and had no successors. This is also one
of the reasons why the strike behind bars of wage labor prisoners favored by the
GG/BO has not yet taken place. That would be an appropriate form of struggle
against over-exploitation in prisons. This led to individual prisoners taking the
legal route and thus reaching the current verdict. It is already a success when
the important role played by the GG/BO in publicizing the issue of the low-wage
prison sector is mentioned in many media with the judgment of the Federal Court
of Justice.

AFTER THE JUDGMENT, GG/BO IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
Especially after the verdict, a strong and capable GG/BO would be more important
than ever. Because it is far from settled that the low-wage prison sector is now
a thing of the past. The BVG by no means sided with the unions. This was already
evident from the fact that the court did not order that the current state of wage
deprivation be lifted immediately. Rather, the two defendant federal states of
Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg are given until June 30, 2025 to change the legal
basis. Until then, the previous regulation will remain in force.

Therefore, all dreams can be forgotten that the prisoners now have to expect
large back wage payments. Instead of exploitation and over-exploitation, the
reasoning behind the judgment also says that the prisoners should have the
feeling that their work is valued, and that this is necessary for their
resocialization, i.e. reintegration into capitalist society. Talking about
feelings instead of exploitation always goes against the interests of wage
earners, whether behind bars or in capitalist freedom.

DO HIGHER WAGES IN PRISON RELIEF THE TREASURES?
The second justification given by the court for the unconstitutionality of the
previous regulations has also been voiced in economically liberal circles in
recent years. They see higher pay for prisoners as a relief for the state
treasury. What sounds paradoxical at first glance has a real background, which
the judge also mentioned in the verdict. Because of the low-wage sector, many
prisoners are unable to pay any possible fines or possible damages, nor pay court
costs, which often run into four figures. Maintenance payments are also not
possible with the previous rates. If wages are increased, the prisoners will
immediately face numerous demands. It is possible that an even larger part of
their wages for cell use and for electricity, etc. will then be withheld. As
positive as it is that, after the BVG decision, the regulations for prisoner
remuneration will probably not only have to be reorganized in Bavaria and North
Rhine-Westphalia, it is as unlikely that the low-wage prison sector will be a
thing of the past. Achieving this goal requires strong prisoner unions working
with supporters outside the prison walls. That would also be an important task
for FAU.

https://direkteaktion.org/niedriglohnsektor-gefaengnis-ist-noch-laengst-nicht-beendet/
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