by Thorsten Koch

Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner (CDU) has spoken out in favor of punishing violations in the meat production more consistently. She advocates stricter legal requirements. Fines for violations of working hours should increase from 15,000 euros to 30,000 Euros, she said.

NRW Labor Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) has made a concrete proposal before. Besides the raise in fines advocated by Klöckner, he called for controls by the competent authorities to be expanded, and for the level of working conditions to be raised. Fast action is advisable, since the situation in the meat industry “can neither be reconciled with the Christian image of man, nor with the standards of social market economy”.

Klöckner had initially proposed that the meat industry change for the better as much as possible from within, and to find concepts in connection with applicable rules. In Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, there had previously been cases of Coronavirus infections in meat processing companies.

Greens for a fundamental reform

The Greens have meanwhile come to call for a fundamental reform of the meat industry, with a minimum price in consumer sales. Greens speaker Robert Habeck presented a seven-point plan, which includes, among other things, a minimum price for animal products, a ban on subcontracting contracts, better conditions for animals, better remuneration for employees in the meat production, and increased state controls.

Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants to make proposals this Monday. He had previously sharply criticized the conditions of the meat production.