The German Civil Servants’ Union (dbb) has dismissed the proposal by SPD leader and Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil to include civil servants in the statutory pension insurance, labeling it “nonsense.” In an interview with the “Rheinischen Post” on Wednesday, dbb chief Volker Geyer stated that “nonsense will not become sensible politics through constant repetition, nor will populist SPD party ideology become fact-based problem-solving.”
Geyer further argued that the Federal Government’s own Old Age Security Commission had already refuted this idea. He claimed that anyone can read the findings: integrating civil servants into the pension insurance would not solve their problems but would create many new ones. He described the measure as “unfinanceable, illegal, and demotivational” for the public service, adding he could only warn against it, particularly during times of crisis.
Klingbeil had previously stated in Heilbronn on Monday evening that including civil servants, politicians, and the self-employed in the pension fund was a step toward greater fairness. Although the pension commission had noted the inclusion of civil servants as a long-term goal, it had also pointed out specific associated problems.
