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UNEMPLOYMENT

‘Benefits rebel’ makes deal with city of Hamburg

The city of Hamburg agreed to give a woman who refused to sanction long-term unemployed people while working at a Jobcenter a new post.

Published: 15 December 2014 15:49 CET
'Benefits rebel' makes deal with city of Hamburg
Inge Hannemann at a November hearing in the Hamburg labour court. Photo: DPA

After she was suspended in April 2013 from the Hamburg-Altona Jobcenter, 46-year-old Inge Hannemann became known as the “Hartz IV [unemployment benefit] rebel” for refusing to withdraw the payments from the job seekers she advised.

“I was shoved out because I made failings public,” Hannemann, who is a local councillor for the Left (Linke) Party and standing for election to Hamburg's city council in February, told the city labour court.

But the Hamburger Abendblatt reported on Monday that she has agreed to switch to the Integration Office (Integrationsamt), where she will help disabled people into the job market.

More than 50 of her supporters attended the hearing on Monday, some carrying signs reading “Get Mad!”.

“Nothing would have happened if I had carried out my job according to the rules,” Hannemann continued.

But the city representatives quickly lost patience with her use of the courtroom as a soapbox.

“You're not giving a speech in parliament here,” the lawyer for the city told Hannemann.

Despite the disagreements between the two, the presiding judge was able to get them to agree to the new arrangement under which Hannemann will work at the Integration Office from now on.

But Hannemann has another legal action open against the city for unfair dismissal and won't let her new job stop her from fighting it.

“I've been promoted out of the way because of this,” she said.

SEE ALSO: Amazon workers kick off three-day strike

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BUSINESS

Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown

Unemployment in France has fallen slightly, despite the ongoing ravages of the health crisis and consequent lockdown, latest statistics show.

Published: 27 April 2021 16:46 CEST
Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown
Photo: Stephane du Sakatin/AFP

The number of unemployed job seekers in mainland France fell by 0.4 percent in the first three months of 2021, according to figures published by the French Ministry of Labour on Tuesday.

There were 3,560,600 unemployed registered at the Pôle Emploi (unemployment office), 12,200 fewer than during the last three months of 2020.

This follows a 2.7 percent fall in the final three months of 2020 – but the rate is still up 6.8 percent compared with the first three months of 2020, before Europe began to feel the economic impact of the Covid pandemic.

Currently all ‘non essential’ shops in France have been closed since April 3rd, while bars, restaurants, cafés, gyms, cinemas, theatres, museums and tourist sites have been closed since October 2020.

Despite the fall the total number of job seekers, the number of people who were in work but with reduced hours was up by 0.8 percent at the start of 2021, to 2,156,300.

That means that in total 5,716,900 people in mainland France were registered with Pôle emploi during this period, an increase of 4.9 percent compared with a year ago.

“Over the course of 2020, in one year, unemployment rose by 8 percent. This is obviously a lot, but we must remember that during the crisis of 2008-2009, unemployment leapt by 25 percent, so we can see that the government assistance is working,” Minister of Labour Élisabeth Borne told BFMTV on Tuesday.

The French government has put together a huge package of economic aid to try and mitigate the effects of the repeated lockdowns, from chômage partiel (furlough) schemes for employees to aid packages for business owners and the self-employed. But many small retailers have been hit hard by the three periods of closure for non-essential shops, while the tourist, leisure and hospitality sectors have also had a devastating year.

The economic downturn linked to the pandemic has disproportionately affected young people in France.  Across all categories of job seekers (unemployed and with reduced hours), the latest figures show a rise of 7.1 percent in a year for those under 25, compared to 4.5 percent for the 25-29 age range, and 4.8 percent for those aged 50 and over.

Men are also more likely to have signed up to Pôle emploi, with a 6.1 percent increase on last year, compared to a 3.8 percent increase among women.

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