Summary / Resumé
Norbert Feldhoff: No wage-dumping
For more than 480.000 staff in the various institutions of the German charity organization Caritas there is a unifi ed wage under the collective agreement. Wages and working conditions are decided on by an equal representation committee. In view of the pressure of growing competition among all sectors of public health and social services this system is being often called into question today. Will the collective wage system of the Caritasassociation have to be differentiated by regions and branches in order not to demand too much of the performance of individual companies and associations? Will the wages still be – which is today‘s practice – linked to collective wages in other areas in the public sector? How obligatory is the Caritas collective wage system for the individual employers? What does the Church do against departures from this system, particularly in the low-pay sectors? Are the criteria of Catholic social teaching for fair pay still internally valid? Will there be – in the near future – a competitive wage system in charitable institutions? Norbert Feldhoff pointedly and competently gives answers to these and others questions.