Staff Council Report

Briefly, the Staff Council.
A total of 14 meetings could be held under the difficult pandemic rules. In 3 quarterly meetings, the staff council was informed about the current situation of the company and the plans for the future and actively worked on sustainable structures through the crisis.
Of course, almost all topics fell short of the one big question: How do we manage together to navigate the Studierendenwerk through this extremely difficult situation?
Even though the decisions were more than difficult, everyone pulled together and the cooperation with the Executive Management worked very well.

The following members belonged to the staff council in 2020.

• Christine Fischer - Chairwoman - on leave of absence
• Stefan Gadinger - vice-chairman - Germersheim residential home
• Sonja Wilker - Villa Unibunt day care centre - Landau
• Elke Jensch - Canteen Germersheim
• Morris Staudt - Canteen Germersheim
• Laila Wien - Canteen Landau

The difficult path through the pandemic
In 2020, the Staff Council - together with the Executive Management - fought above all for the protection of the jobs at the Studierendenwerk and unfortunately did not always win. We experienced a great deal of solidarity from our students and the AStA (student union) in Landau and campaigned hard by taking part in AStA rallies, giving radio interviews and signing petitions to draw attention to the unsatisfactory situation of staff at the Studierendenwerk. Joint video conferences with all staff councils of the Rhineland-Palatinate student unions took place in order to put pressure on politicians and plan a united approach.

We were very happy about the rescue parachute within the framework of the bridging aid for students, which was urgently needed. Unfortunately, however, a rescue parachute for the staff of the Studierendenwerk did not come. Thus, probably the saddest decision was when it became clear to us in July 2020 that we could no longer extend the contracts of 51 - often long-term - seasonal staff members. However, the economic forecasts and the complete closure of our colleges for face-to-face teaching did not allow for any other decision by the Executive Management. The staff council supported this decision and informed the affected seasonal staff together with the department heads about this step in personal talks. The staff of our university catering department had more than halved from 96 employees to 45 employees from one day to the next.

We had agreed a job guarantee with the Executive Management for the remaining permanent staff until the end of July 2020. However, from 01.08.2020, due to the economic situation, even dismissals of the remaining permanent staff could no longer be ruled out. This has caused lasting uncertainty among our permanent staff at all locations. In numerous telephone calls and personal conversations we were confronted with the fears and concerns of the employees:

• How important is my department?
• How important is my job?
• Am I threatened with dismissal?
• What will the Studierendenwerk look like after the pandemic?
• How long will my employer last?

It was only with difficulty that we were able to counteract further erosion of skilled workers and therefore, together with the Executive Management, we decided in an employment agreement to increase the short-time allowance of the employees to 100% for the whole year. Especially the top-up amounts in the lower pay groups are also of great relevance with regard to future pensions. A longer period with only 67% could have been existentially threatening, especially for single or single-parent colleagues, and could have caused other colleagues to leave the Studierendenwerk in search of a new employer.

Our responsible Ministry of Science and Culture (now: Ministry of Science and Health), represented by Dr. Weber, was willing to talk and a joint video conference with the staff councils of the student unions and the Ministry was also held.
The Ministry held out the prospect of the staff councils as part of a body - consisting of the Executive Management, the Administrative Boards and the Ministry - being able to work together on a new orientation of a future-oriented Studierendenwerk in order to bring in the interests of the employees.

So far it has remained a promise. All efforts on the part of the staff council to draw public attention to the particularly difficult situation of the employees of the Studierendenwerk - who are also state employees - have so far not produced any tangible results.

Conclusion
The new minister responsible for us, Clemens Hoch, talks about visions and the future of universities and colleges, but the student unions are not mentioned at all. In the future, we would like to see more communication at eye level for the Studierendenwerk - the social backbone of all students - and more appreciation for our important work.
The staff council finds it shameful that the Studierendenwerk of all things - as a public institution usually a guarantor of "secure jobs" - was one of the first to have to lay off employees on a large scale. Standing up for the state's own employees, pointing out perspectives and making a clear statement on job security would have been more than desirable. We see the state of Rhineland-Palatinate as urgently obliged to take responsibility for its employees and to reconsider its further crisis management.