Several thousand people took to the streets in Thuringia on Labor Day – for the rights of employees, living wages, a strong welfare state and against right-wing extremism. Nationwide, 5,100 people responded to the unions’ call on Monday, the DGB said in Hesse-Thuringia. This had called for 18 events, including in Erfurt, Jena, Saalfeld and Gera. The DGB also recalled the dismantling and expropriation of the free trade unions by the National Socialists 90 years ago.
According to the police, around 500 people came together in Gera in the afternoon for a demonstration against a right-wing extremist elevator with around 700 participants. The police were on site in large numbers, and clashes broke out.
At the DGB rally in Gera, Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) spoke out against the possibility for companies to join employers’ associations despite the lack of collective agreements. “The generally binding nature of collective agreements must become the norm again,” he demanded. Such contracts only come about through “strong trade unions”.
In Saalfeld, the deputy chairwoman of the Hesse-Thuringia DGB district, Renate Sternatz, demanded that the crisis should not be carried out on the backs of the employees. “As trade unions, we are fighting for a strong welfare state and efficient public services – we are fighting for redistribution from top to bottom,” she said, calling for the reintroduction of the wealth tax. It is unacceptable for the rich to evade responsibility. This year’s DGB events were held under the motto “unbroken solidarity”.
Ramelow, who had been a union official for many years before becoming a politician, recalled the fight for the eight-hour day in the 19th century. “The demand at the time was unimaginable,” said Ramelow. Today some wrote again that the demand for a four-day week was unimaginable. He already knows companies that advertise with it.
At the march of the right-wing spectrum, among other things, Russian flags could be seen, and a poster was directed against public media. According to a dpa reporter, an AfD member of parliament also ran on the train.
The train of counter-demonstrators had to be stopped in the meantime to prevent the two camps from directly clashing, said a police spokeswoman. There had been an attempt to break through by counter-demonstrators. The police said on Monday evening that emergency services had used pepper spray and batons. They were physically attacked several times. An officer was reportedly injured. In consultation with the public prosecutor’s office, a procedure for breach of the peace had been initiated.
Police PM
