Room for concern in front of care home in Osnabrück

Every year on 12 May, Care Day takes place internationally. For us at the Women's Strike Osnabrück/ Platz für Sorge Osnabrück, this was also an opportunity to once again draw attention to the shortcomings in the care sector. We met at 12:30 at the Ledenhof, where there is a care home for older people. Beautifully situated in the city centre, this facility is also under acute threat. Instead of providing a home for elderly people in need of care, the plan is to create living space for groups of people who are old but can still live independently. People with care needs that require inpatient care are to move to a new facility in Voxtrup. We were able to have a few conversations with passers-by as well as a representative of the care home. No. We are not corona deniers and mask deniers. We are showing that in this pandemic, paid and unpaid care work is the pillar of life in communities. Without childcare - which is mainly provided by women - life in and outside the pandemic would be unimaginable. Without care at home or in institutions, "an economy in Germany" would not be possible. Without cleaning, cooking, ironing and washing, no one could do their paid work. Care work guarantees the functioning of every society! What is finally needed is real recognition, better personnel and technical equipment, a reduction in paid working hours to 30 hours per week, statutory minimum wages and generally binding collective agreements for all care professions. None of these demands will be met by clapping, and the Ledenhof has been symbolically renamed "Platz für Sorge". In this way, we want to give care and care work the social place it deserves!