„Solidarität“ in Zeiten der Pandemie: Potenziale für eine neue Politik der Arbeit?

Ever since the Corona crisis started, a plea for “solidarity” has rung out – not in terms of labour movement ideals, but of social cohesion, beyond class and party. However, some measures have been in line with demands unions have long fought for in vain. The brake on state debts and sanctions of the unemployment insurance ( Hartz IV) have been temporarily suspended, and job protection through subsidised short-time work has reached an all-time peak. The social problems associated with wage labour, however, have been aggravated: wages have been cut or lost, the polarisation of working time and the “crisis of reproduction” has gained momentum, especially for those working from home. Old lines of division among working people remain – even for the “heroes of everyday life”, no initiatives have been taken to stop the precarisation of employment. To what extent does the crisis still promote the emergence of new forms of solidarity, given that labour and the reproduction of labour power are now considered “systemically relevant”; that conflicts about the distribution of time and social wealth cross the borders of companies and economic sectors ; and that reliable public services have proved essential for saving lives, thus challenging strategies of privatisation and economisation?