It was predictable and now, at the latest, after the war in Ukraine has been raging for a good four weeks and thousands of refugees have reached the FRG, the debate has begun on how best to use them. Imperialist chauvinism is unleashed freely and unbridled these days. Various business associations are calling for the rapid "integration" of refugees into the German labour market. Meanwhile, the Federal Minister of Labour, Hubertus Heil (SPD), has also announced that he wants to get the Ukrainian refugees into the labour market quickly. There is a labour shortage in many sectors, he said on 18 March.
The area of nursing care is particularly high on the agenda of the debate. The so-called nursing crisis has been an unsolved problem in the FRG for years and tens of thousands of jobs are unfilled. Low wages, complete overwork and poor working conditions are standard in care. Colleagues in the care professions have been taking to the streets again and again for years to demand better wages and working conditions and have been able to achieve partial successes. Nevertheless, the situation remains generally bad. The Ukrainian refugees - who are mainly women - are now supposed to solve this problem, if the German state has its way. Berlin labour lawyer Martin Bechert suspects the following:
"Many entrepreneurs simply see the Ukrainian refugees as cheap labour. My fear is that their emergency situation will be exploited and that many companies will not employ the Ukrainians as qualified workers, but that they will receive comparatively less money and have to work for less than they are worth ... It is mainly women who are fleeing from Ukraine. Many of them could be employed in the care sector, where there is a shortage of skilled workers. However, I can't imagine that their professional training will be recognised quickly. It is therefore likely that even certified nurses will be underpaid, employed at the level of an unskilled worker. The danger that many refugees will be exploited is very real, especially in care."
What the Berlin lawyer says here hits the nail on the head. The bourgeoisie sees in the people from Ukraine cheap labour to do the jobs at starvation wages that no one else wants to do. The people who have left their countries because of war, hunger or other misery are always the ones who are exploited the most. The imperialist German bourgeoisie now presents itself as the great refugee helper, but they are chauvinists who think they are master race and see the people from the oppressed nations only as their slaves.
