Here is a small service for Moni on this usually unpolitical family page. My humble translation talents have to be good for something. If you don’t know this story, you can read about it here, here, here and here, also here.
A friend of mine, who has to take care of a three and a half year old son, has just been fired under totally unacceptable circumstances after her probationary period. She used to work at Transparency Germany, the German chapter of the non-governmental organization Transparency International, who pledged themselves against corruption in businesses. She worked there 20 hours a week for 1000 Euros gross, with a finished degree, several years of job experience etc. She only survived, because she also worked as a freelance journalist on top of that.
After the managing director told her that she was doing an excellent job, she asked my friend if she could increase from 20 to 30 hours after the probationary period. This of course meant that my friend would had to give up her freelance work and live only on their salary, so she made a salary demand, to receive 1400 Euros after deductions for 30 hours. If that was not possible, my friend offered to stay with the 20 hours and 1000 Euros without deductions. Next there was a board meeting and after that my friends manager informed her in brief that she would be let go at the end of her probationary period. Without an offer, without any negotiation, without any further talk even.
The manager told her about her successor, too: concerning a woman, who was applying for a different position and said right at the job interview that the low salary would not be a problem, her husband earned enough, and she did not really need the money. That’s how quick and easy things go. No solutions that everybody can live with are pursued, just a simple switch made. In a job market situation, in which so many are depending on the work and the money, they are hiring highly qualified people for a pittance and then swap them out, as soon as they find somebody, who does not even use the money, even if they were very satisfied with the work. My friend is now left there with her kid and her freelance work, which by itself is not securing her survival. Things like that seem to be “normal” nowadays? But truly not with an NGO, who fly the banner of morals and ethics and whose basic tenets include integrity. This is a real disappointment.
[Jan 29, 2006: More than two weeks ago, my friend wrote a letter to the board, which, to this day, has not received a reply.]
