Care Revolution | Working groups
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Working groups

Events working group

For some months now, there has been a supra-regional working group in the Care Revolution network that organises online events. The range of topics is broad: We take up issues that advance political practice or debates within the network or among care activists in general. So far, we have organised the following events in cooperation with Solidarisch Sorgen e.V:

We will plan and organise further events. However, we are currently a small group and would be very happy to welcome more interested people. If you would like to join us, permanently or on a topic that is particularly close to your heart, please write to us.

Working group on reducing working hours

Our working group was founded at the workshop of the AK Care-Klima in Buchenbach in autumn 2022. We want to bring the transformative potential of a reduction and redistribution of working hours into the socio-political and trade union discourse. We see the reduction of full-time gainful employment as a crucial element on the path to a necessary socio-ecological transformation.

With this topic, we want to bring together different social struggles and different socio-political goals, which we believe must be tackled together:

  • Redistribution of social care activities to all genders.

  • Reduction of resource consumption by reducing material production.

  • Improving working conditions and job satisfaction.

  • A harmonisation of social wages, i.e. a desired equality of socially necessary work.

  • Democratisation of working and living environments, time for social experiments.

  • Generally more relaxed, fairer and globally more shareable lifestyles.

We see the demand for an EAZV of 25-30 hours/week as a milestone, with wage equalisation staggered according to hourly pay, i.e. with a redistribution component. We are in a dialogue process with trade union and socio-political stakeholders. This has resulted in a joint position paper, which will be published soon and linked here.

We have also produced a brochure which can be ordered free of charge from the e-mail address below and which you can view or print out here:

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2024_BroschuereAGEAZV_carerevolution.pdf PDF | 3.4 MB

We meet online without a fixed schedule and are happy to welcome people who want to join us. You can reach us at:

ag-eazv@care-revolution.org

A good introduction to the topic can also be found in the dossier of the Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie, which has compiled international examples and arguments:

https://konzeptwerk-neue-oekonomie.org/bausteine-fuer-klimagerechtigkeit/arbeitszeitverkuerzung/

Working group on time sovereignty

We see time sovereignty and time prosperity for all as a component of a necessary socio-ecological transformation and a care revolution. Our working group was founded against this background and as a result of the debates on reducing working hours.

In order to achieve time sovereignty and time prosperity for all as part of a socio-ecological transformation and care revolution, a reduction in working hours must have an emancipatory, solidary and transformative character.This means that it must enable all people to freely organise their time for paid work (paid work), education and leisure, art and culture, democratic work, care work and other personal work according to their situational and life-phase-specific preferences - naturally taking into account the requirements associated with the respective work. And it must ensure that all people can live in an intact and healthy environment. People's health and vital natural resources must not be impaired or destroyed by harmful and unnecessary production and consumption.

This universal demand means, firstly, not only focusing on wage labourers and formalised wage labour when it comes to reducing working hours. Secondly, it means taking into account different social, economic and ecological circumstances in a global context. We therefore criticise a wage labour-centric debate on reducing working hours that ignores the Global South.

The universal claim also means that the material security of the time sovereignty and time prosperity of each and every person must be guaranteed - through a basic income and freely accessible public infrastructure. Every person must have the necessary resources for a sovereign organisation of life and for participation in the democratic shaping of production and consumption.

Against this background, our working group is discussing proposals and possibilities for different approaches and forms of reducing working hours.

We are in a process of exchange with political and social actors working on similar issues.

We have also produced a brochure which can be ordered free of charge from the e-mail address below and which you can view or print out here.

⬇
2024_Broschüre_AG-Zeit-carerevoultion.pdf PDF | 2.3 MB

We meet online without a fixed schedule and are happy to welcome people who want to join us. You can reach us at: ag-zeitsouveraenitaet@care-revolution.org