Press Release No. 19/2010 IG Metall Will Fight Back Against Unfair Austerity Policies

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall has sharply criticized the federal government’s austerity package. “The coalition’s austerity measures are unfair and ill-suited to combating the crisis,” said IG Metall President Berthold Huber at the union’s advisory board meeting on Tuesday in Frankfurt. The coalition’s decisions are socially unbalanced and deeply violate people’s sense of justice. “People are being presented with a bill in the billions, while those responsible are reporting billions in profits on their balance sheets and speculation continues unabated,” Huber criticized. The motto, he said, is: “The poor foot the bill, while the rich get off scot-free.” “We will fight against such policies,” the IG Metall chairman announced.

Huber emphasized that the holes in public budgets arose because governments first allowed “ruthless gambling on the global financial markets” and are now unwilling to make those responsible for the crisis bear a fair share of the costs. “The financial sector is being absolved of responsibility and financial liability. I find that ridiculous and brazen,” said Huber. He called for a financial transaction tax, the taxation of large fortunes, and greater participation by high-income earners in covering the costs of the financial crisis.

The Advisory Board, IG Metall’s most important body between union congresses, has passed a resolution opposing the austerity package. The resolution states: “IG Metall rejects the cuts to unemployment benefits, family support, and labor market policies adopted by the federal government and demands that these decisions be reversed. This course of action is unjust, as the unemployed—and not those who caused the crisis—are bearing the brunt of the burden. IG Metall will mobilize its members against the proposed path of consolidation.”