- At the delegates’ meeting at the end of February, the Verdi chairwoman of the Berlin-Brandenburg district, Andrea Kühnemann, asked a union member to withdraw a motion for the introduction of rules against nepotism.
- This happened on the fringes of the delegates’ meeting, the Verdi member felt emotionally blackmailed by the state chair. Kühnemann told her that her application put the union in a bad light.
- At the same time, Kühnemann sits on the RBB Broadcasting Council, of all people, whose leadership also had a problem with roped parties. Business Insider revealed the grievances at the public broadcaster for months.
At the end of February, Andrea Kühnemann rose to become one of the most powerful women in Germany’s second largest trade union. On February 24th and 25th it was presented at a conference of delegates with a clear result to the Verdi boss elected by Berlin-Brandenburg. The capital has a special position with Verdi, it is the largest union district in Germany. With Brandenburg, the state district has more than 150,000 members.
As harmonious as the election took place, the allegations of what happened on the sidelines of the conference are just as harsh: According to research by Business Insider, Kühnemann put pressure on a Verdi member to prevent the introduction of rules against nepotism, about which should also be voted on at the conference. Business Insider revealed about two weeks before the conference that how family members were provided with coveted posts by Verdi functionaries from the state district. Especially explosive for Kühnemann, because the revelation also affected her own brother-in-law, who now works directly for Kühnemann as a union secretary.