[Surprisingly, some people do not know that Nazism is illegal in Germany. That does not only mean the emblems, but the practice thereof. As a result, there is much German-language literature which meaningfully relates to present-day rightwing groups, including some which describe themselves as "religion," such as Scientology.] "Heil Hitler" - grounds for dismissal Berlin operations announce disciplinary measures against radical rightwing staff: employees risk dismissal without notice for "disturbing the peace at work." Unions support the process and offer tolerance seminars. Berlin, German August 10, 2000 taz by Richard Rother Fewer and fewer Berlin operations intend to tolerate rightwing radicals among their staff. Employees who bring attention to themselves in this way risk disciplinary measures - up to and including dismissal. "We do not accept radical, rightwing endeavors in our business," said one "Bewag" spokesman. That, he said, could harm the company's image. As a result, "Bewag" takes action against staff in that regard - according to the severity of the offence. "Which could include termination without notice." But before that come verbal and written warnings. "We want dismissals to endure labor court." "Schering" does not tolerate rightwingers, either. "We are an international corporation; naturally we are tolerant," a spokeswoman stressed. Those who verbally harass staff are disrupting the operating climate and have to reckon with consequences up to and including dismissal. That does not concern only rightwing extremists, but also leftwing radicals and Scientology adherents. People in civil service also highly value this perspective. "Anyone who lets rightwing or leftwing radicalism interfere with his service has to count on there being consequences," said to a spokesman from the Interior Administration. Unlike open business, civil service already offered this option. Nothing funny is going on behind the scenes at the Berlin Water Plant (BWB) or at Siemens, either. "Tolerance is important," said a BWB spokesman. Same thing at the city sanitation plant (BSR). "We take affirmative action on that," said a BSR spokesman. The BSR let an apprentice go back in 1997. He had put a sign on a co-worker's locker that said "Work makes you free, Turkey, a beautiful country." The case went all the way up to the Federal Labor Court, which confirmed the dismissal. Since then there has been a mandatory tolerance program at the BSR for apprentices. In their first year of apprenticeship they have an academic field trip to the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp. There have also been dire consequences in other operations: Coca-Cola fired a doorman who entered the canteen and gave the Hitler salute. BMW let an employee go for making anti-Semitic statements. The DGB (German trade union federation) welcomes the businesses' processes against employees. "We should all express ourselves against the rightwing," said DGB state vice president Bernd Rissmann. In labor law, it is possible to terminate someone for "disturbing the peace at work." The company boards would also approve of the termination. "The person involved in this kind of case would hardly stand a chance in court." The DGB currently requires in writing of all company boards that they take affirmative action against rightwing radicals in their companies. But the DGB will not leave it at words alone. Since May the union stewards have been conducting training seminars for young members. The topic: Tolerance and Rightwing Extremism. About 1,000 young people will have attended the seminar by year's end. The DGB has trained over 20 people to give the seminar. --- Unofficial translations of German media, For non-commercial use only Recent events - http://cisar.org/trnmenu.htm Informational publications http://members.tripod.com/German_Scn_News Over 1200 articles sorted by date http://cisar.org/sortdate.htm

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