Industrial unions see hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk because of the high electricity prices in Germany compared to other countries. According to a joint statement by the trade unions IG Metall, IGBCE and IG BAU, there is 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-wide actions and rallies are planned.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had announced in advance that he would submit proposals for a state-subsidized industrial electricity price in the first half of the year. For several months now, the German economy has been complaining about high energy costs compared to other countries. Although the state price brakes are now in place, these would 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,” he warns. “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.”
“The acid test will not come until 2023,” said the trained chemical laboratory technician at the union’s annual press conference in mid-January. At that time, around 40 percent of chemical companies had already cut back their production.
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