German trade union calls for ‘day of action’ amid industrial job losses

Frankfurt, Germany – German industrial trade union IGBCE is mobilising members against continued job losses in industry, calling for ‘a day of action’ on 26 Sept across 15 German cities to call for policy reform in the country.

In a 12 Aug statement, the union said it wants to “stop the haemorrhaging and loss of jobs in industry” and create the foundations for new growth opportunities.

Criticising the government’s handling of the economic crisis, IGBCE chairman Michael Vassiliadis said the federal government had been “consistently off track” for months.

“Cutbacks in pensions, care or sick leave will not enable us to organise the turnaround of our industry,” Vassiliadis said.

“At the same time, they [government officials] helplessly watch as we lose 15,000 jobs in the industrial sector every month,” he said.

The union said uncertainty among employees and dissatisfaction with government policy had reached new highs.

In its latest member survey, conducted in June and July with 3,655 participants, 90% said policymakers lacked an understanding of the issues facing industrial workers.

A relative majority of 42% said none of the parties represented in the German parliament was genuinely addressing their concerns.

In its petition, IGBCE said it was calling for “job and site guarantees,” arguing that companies receiving state funding should be required to preserve good industrial jobs and local value creation.

The union also called for protection against “unfair competition”, including binding local-content requirements and measures to make domestic production more competitive.

On energy costs, IGBCE said it is demanding that the industrial electricity price be permanently reduced to €0.05/kWh.

In addition, the union said grid charges should be financed through the federal budget, and called for changes to the carbon-pricing burden on energy-intensive industries.

“The CO2 price, under the current legal situation, amounts to a switch-off mechanism for energy-intensive industries,” the union said. “This must come to an end.”