The federal government wants to give millions of companies a temporary helping hand because their energy costs have risen so much. That’s better than letting the basically viable companies go bankrupt along with the jobs.
So far so good.
However, the federal government is also planning that the managers of many of these companies should continue to receive their special payments, their year-end “bonus”. That’s unfair. That’s a slap in the face to those funding it.
Whatever these bosses do for their bonus, they can only do it because all taxpayers in Germany will soon save their shop. And all taxpayers, that means: lots of small taxpayers who earn far less than managers. But something goes terribly wrong when a supermarket cashier or a truck driver finances a board member’s annual bonus.
This sends a devastating message: Those who have made it to the top no longer need to worry, even in this crisis. To care? That’s only for the lower half of society. No government should give such an impression, because in the long run it could tear the country apart.
But the coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP could not agree on the clear cut. Instead, supported state companies are not allowed to pay a bonus. All other companies, on the other hand, are allowed to do so if they do not exceed a certain level of aid. So the government is acting in all seriousness as if you could answer this very fundamental question of justice one way and the other way around.
It is not envy to flatly reject bonus payments for managers of state-backed companies. It’s about fairness in the crisis. And it’s about cohesion between above and below. It’s stressed enough, but the federal government of all people is going one better with their bonus scheme. That is incomprehensible and hardly to be forgiven.
This article first appeared on RTL.de
