Schwerin (dpa/mv) - With some delay, the state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania decided to also grant the energy price flat rate of 300 euros to retired state civil servants. This was announced by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday in Schwerin. The payment is part of the federal government's third relief package, which also includes pensioners with a compensation payment for the high electricity and gas prices. The first relief measures initially ignored seniors and students.
While states such as Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein immediately made regulations for retired state civil servants, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania took its time with this. This led to massive criticism, including from the police union. Police officers make up the majority of officials. The federal government had announced that the taxable one-off payment would also be made available to retired federal civil servants. The states are responsible for the state officials. With around 7,000 retirees in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the total expenditure amounts to around 2.1 million euros.
The cabinet also decided to transfer the November 2021 collective agreement for employees in the state to civil servants and pensioners "in a timely and system-appropriate manner". According to the conclusion, salaries and pensions will increase by 2.8 percent as of December 1, 2022. "I am pleased that all members of the public sector are treated equally, regardless of whether they are employees or civil servants," said Finance Minister Heiko Geue (SPD).
The DGB welcomed the government's decisions. "The extreme rates of inflation are affecting everyone. It is therefore the right signal to also provide for the energy price flat rate for the state and local government recipients. The implementation must now take place promptly," warned DGB North Vice President Ingo Schlueter. The state government has also kept its word with the transfer of the collective bargaining result to salary and pensions.
