Industrial unions see hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk because of the high electricity prices in Germany compared to other countries. The trade unions IG Metall, IGBCE and IG BAU said there was a risk of job losses and site closures, particularly in energy-intensive sectors such as the steel, chemical and building materials industries.
With a nationwide day of action on Thursday, they want to emphasize the demand for an industrial electricity price that is internationally competitive and ensures long-term planning. Several dozen public and company actions and rallies are planned.
Price brakes only have a dampening effect
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had announced that he would submit proposals for a state-subsidized industrial electricity price in the first half of the year. The German economy has been complaining for a long time about high energy costs in international comparison. Although the state price brakes are now in place, they only dampen the increase.
“The federal government must intervene to regulate the industrial electricity price,” demanded Jörg Hofmann, First Chairman of IG Metall: “Otherwise steel production, the aluminum industry and other energy-intensive sectors are in danger of disappearing from Germany sooner or later. Hundreds of thousands of jobs would be directly and indirectly affected. “
IGBCE Chairman Michael Vassiliadis explained that the chemical and paper industries have particularly high energy requirements. “At the same time, they are at the beginning of almost all industrial value-added processes. If they close plants and relocate production due to high electricity costs, that is the first step towards deindustrialization in Germany.”
