Earlier this week, Caritas employee Carole Reckinger shared her experience since the embezzlement came to light in an interview with RTL, in which she said she, and other staff members, felt “abandoned”. As soon as the crisis committee was implemented to deal with the investigation, all communication with staff ceased. Reckinger described a lack of empathy from upper echelons of the charity.
Now, a number of political parties have requested clarification on the treatment of Caritas staff.
With each step, the handling of the scandal at Caritas has become less transparent, as a crisis committee was implemented to solve it quickly, followed by the government distancing itself from the charity. The board was shunted aside and the management committee was swiftly abolished.
Not only the public remains in the dark, but so do around 300 members of staff, who have not received adequate communication, according to Reckinger, who is head of political advocacy at the charity. The CSV faction president Marc Spautz says her statements make sense.
“In my previous role as union secretary, I observed many companies shut down. But things were always made clear, they were communicated. People were well aware of the different stages and what would happen next, because it was important for them to know. Staff need to know what awaits them, as do people who benefit from the charity. It is sad that the humanitarian aspect has been lost.”
The Greens’ Djuna Bernard agrees that people’s best interests have been left behind during the whole matter. The new organisation replacing Caritas, known as “Hëllef um Terrain,“ now handles the political requirements within the sector.
“I think economic and legal interests have been looked at in the creation of this new entity, but it has completely lost its human side. Both in dealing with current staff as well as in terms of handling the cooperation’s future. Now it calls the heart of the entire sector into question as it is becoming a service-based company, as Mr Billon describes it, and this shows how little understanding there really is of the sector.”
The crisis committee banned staff from speaking to the press. Allegedly, members of upper management were banned from discussing the issue with other staff members. Christian Billon refutes these claims, “Caritas is a big company with many staff members, so there are rumours, as is the case in other large businesses. They only cause more fear and worry.”
LSAP MP Mars di Bartolomeo said it was clear the crisis committee’s work needed to be analysed, “We have a lot of questions, and the more questions we ask, the more ‘answers’ we receive. But these only lead to more new questions. I would like to see complete transparency in the matter, for the whole case. So we can learn from today’s issues and re-evaluate for the future.”
The LSAP has requested a special committee to facilitate the catch-up work in the Caritas case.
Related:
Heated discussions during the OGBL’s meeting with Caritas employees
Prosecutor’s office investigates two banks’ involvement in Caritas embezzlement case
Caritas replaced: opposition demands judicial action, church ends involvement
