Susanne "Susi" Neumann (29 May 1959 – 13 January 2019) was a German author, chairwoman of a labour union, and

cleaner A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter or caretaker, is a pe ...

. She gained public recognition after an appearance on the German talk-show ''

Anne Will Anne Will (born 18 March 1966) is a German television journalist and host of the eponymous political talk show. She was anchorwoman of the daily '' Tagesthemen'' news broadcast on ARD from 2001 until 2007. Early life and career Will was born ...

''. Neumann is known for her direct speech, criticism of

fixed-term employment contract A fixed-term contract is a contractual relationship between an employee and an employer that lasts for a specified period that is determined in advance. These contracts are usually regulated by countries' labor laws, to ensure that employers still ...

s and advocacy for

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

. She is furthermore known for her talk with German vice chancellor

Sigmar Gabriel Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

about the crumbling middle class. She wrote a book about her concerns and experiences, which was published in 2016. In 2018, Neumann supported the

Aufstehen Aufstehen (German: ''Stand up'') is a left-wing collective movement founded by politician Sahra Wagenknecht in 2018. Its co-founders and participants included leading members of Germany's left-oriented parties as well as supporters from science a ...

movement.

Life

Neumann was born in

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...

and came from a civil servant family. She graduated with the

Mittlere Reife The Mittlere Reife (, lit. ''"Middle Maturity"'') is a school-leaving certificate in Germany that is usually awarded after ten years of schooling. It is roughly comparable with the British GCSE. The official name varies between the federal st ...

school-leaving certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final Matriculation examination, qualification examination. Fo ...

and started an apprenticeship as home decorator. She abandoned this apprenticeship when she became pregnant and worked as a cleaner in Gelsenkirchen from 1981. She was a trade unionist and joined the

Building and Construction Union The Building and Construction Union (, IG BSE) was a trade union representing building workers in West Germany. Construction workers in Germany were organised in the German Union of Building Trades until 1933, when it was banned by the Nazis. A n ...

and became a union official on regional and federal commissions.

Publications

In her book ''Frau Neumann haut auf den Putz – Warum wir ein Leben lang arbeiten und trotzdem verarmen'' (''Ms. Neumann hits the nail on the head – why we work for a lifetime and still become impoverished'') published in 2017, she and co-author outline social conditions in Germany, how its welfare state has degenerated and why people have multiple jobs but still do not earn enough money. Neumann also writes about her own experiences.

References

1959 births 2019 deaths People from Gelsenkirchen Social justice activists Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians German trade unionists Aufstehen German women writers German non-fiction writers German women trade unionists {{Germany-writer-stub