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DE 
By Michael Rothe
Some are annoyed, others are impatient, and the third are hard-headed. This is how the attitude of Saxony's black-red-green government to a new public procurement law can be described. The amendment is one of its most important projects, but it is being treated like a hot potato. And elections will be held again in 2024.
The 2013 law in force in Saxony is considered a toothless tiger with no binding social and environmental standards for public contracts. Only in Bavaria are there no regulations that guarantee employees at least the wages and working conditions of an industry collective agreement. Why shouldn't what has proven itself nationwide work there? The CDU and employers' associations fear more bureaucracy and speak of criteria that are "foreign to public procurement.
In Saxony, the cheapest contractor is still awarded the contract - often with subcontractors who use other subs. The people who ultimately carry out the work often don't speak German and work under lousy conditions for dumping wages. According to the German Federation of Trade Unions, this must stop. The employees lose out because they have no real prospects and end up in old-age poverty, the companies that are bound by collective agreements lose out in tenders, the social security funds lose out because they have lower revenues, and the public coffers lose out because income taxes look meager.
Orders for 1.4 billion euros from the country in two years
The wide scope of the law is made clear by the latest procurement report from Saxony's Ministry of Economics. According to the report, the Free State awarded a good 224,000 contracts worth 1.4 billion euros in 2021/22. Just under half of the orders, 107,000 with a volume of a good 788 million euros, went to clients in the Free State, and of the 36,000 construction contracts, as much as 90 percent.
The current Public Procurement Act of 2013 requires the state government to report to the state parliament every two years on the award of public contracts. Supply and service contracts over 215,000 euros net and construction contracts larger than 5.4 million euros are not covered - nor are awards by local authorities, the Federal Construction Administration, contracts above EU thresholds and freelance services.
Saxony's Ministry of Economics (SMWA) does not want to answer questions from Saechsische.de about the amendment. The State Chancellery is also silent and refers to the SMWA. "The still ongoing coordination process requires that we do not comment on any content of the law," it says from the house of Minister Martin Dulig (SPD). Already in July 2022, it was said from there: "Currently, the votes are running in the state government", therefore one can not comment. "At that time, the announcement was made that "a submission to the Saxon state parliament is planned for this year.
But since then, only a proposal from the left has been discussed there. In 2012, the SPD had introduced a joint bill with the opposition party under parliamentary group leader Dulig. It failed - as did the Socialists' new attempt, this time also because the SPD, which is now in government, voted against it. Dulig does not answer what spoke against it. Nor does he say anything about why the amendment has been delayed or what activities have been undertaken in this regard, let alone whether the election promise can still be kept.
Ministry denies own draft law
"We stand for strong collective bargaining partnership," declare the CDU, SPD and Alliance Greens in their 2019-2024 government program. "Under the guiding principle of 'Good Work for Saxony,' we are committed to the necessary creation of attractive working conditions. This continues to include increasing collective bargaining coverage," it says.
"Talks on the new procurement law are ongoing and being conducted in a constructive manner," the Ministry of Economics writes. Since many companies and employees are affected, talks are being held with interest groups. The law will enter parliament after it is approved by the cabinet. "There is currently no classic draft law," the response said.
However, Saechsische.de does have one: dated December 21, 2022 from Dulig's Department 13 "for all state and municipal clients as well as for other corporations, institutions and foundations under public law". The paper limits tariff compliance to generally binding contracts and local public transport. The relevant ministries would decide "which collective agreements are to be considered representative," it says. If there are no agreements, "contracts may only be awarded to companies that, when submitting a bid, undertake to pay their employees ... at least a wage that corresponds to pay group E1 level 2 of the collective agreement for the public service of the federal states ... applicable in the Free State of Saxony" - currently 2,094.49 euros gross. Contracting authorities would have to include aspects of environmental protection and energy efficiency "taking into account proportionality".
Saxony lags ten years behind
"If it comes to that, Saxony would only be following what other German states already decided ten years ago, but are much further along in the meantime," says Thorsten Schulten of the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation, which is close to the trade unions. There has long been "a trend toward comprehensive regulations on tariffs. According to Schulten, a fundamentally new legal situation in Europe makes it possible to overcome previous restrictions and require compliance with collectively agreed standards for all public contracts. Six states have already modernized their laws in this way, he said, with Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Lower Saxony planning something similar. And there is a working draft in the Federal Ministry of Labor, according to which federal contracts of 10,000 euros or more should only be awarded to companies that pay according to collective agreements.
In Saxony, only 43 percent of employees are covered by collective agreements. This puts the Free State, together with Berlin, at the bottom of the league. Only one in six companies agrees wages, working hours and conditions with trade unions. Even among companies that are wholly or majority owned, the state has some catching up to do. According to the Ministry of Finance, of 14 wholly owned companies, only eight are bound by collective bargaining agreements. According to studies by the WSI, employees without collective agreements in Saxony earn on average 870 euros less per month for the same work than those covered by collective agreements and work one hour longer per week.
"This law will come into force on January 1, 2024," the draft bill states. But the likelihood decreases with every session of the state parliament without this agenda item. Some even doubt that the amendment can be implemented at all in this legislature. After all, Saxony will elect its next state parliament in 13 months. It would be the second failed attempt.
