Frankfurt am Main/Hanover – In light of high electricity prices in Germany, the industrial unions are calling for a nationwide day of action. The three industrial unions—IG Metall, IGBCE, and IG BAU—warn that job losses and plant closures are looming, particularly in energy-intensive sectors such as the steel, chemical, and building materials industries. They are calling on the federal government to introduce a special industrial electricity rate for energy-intensive sectors that is on par with European standards, internationally competitive, and ensures long-term predictability. Only in this way can jobs and production sites be secured in the long term. With a nationwide day of action this coming Thursday, March 9, they aim to publicly underscore this demand.
Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall: “The federal government must take decisive action on the industrial electricity price. Otherwise, steel production, the aluminum industry, and other energy-intensive sectors risk disappearing from Germany sooner or later. Hundreds of thousands of jobs would be directly and indirectly affected. These are skilled, well-paid jobs—most of which are covered by collective bargaining agreements—that are gradually being lost because investments are no longer taking place in this country due to excessively high electricity costs. Policymakers must prevent this.”
Michael Vassiliadis, Chairman of the IGBCE: “The industries represented by the IGBCE—whether chemicals, metals, glass, or paper—have particularly high energy requirements. At the same time, they are at the starting point of nearly all industrial value-added processes. If they close plants and relocate production due to high electricity costs, that is the first step toward the deindustrialization of Germany. We need—both now and beyond the current energy crisis—an industrial electricity price that is on par with those in other regions of the world. This is a fundamental prerequisite for the socially and economically successful transformation of our industrial society toward climate neutrality.”
Robert Feiger, Federal Chairman of IG BAU:“A high-performing lime and cement industry is indispensable as the foundation for the entire construction and finishing sector, which employs around 3.4 million people. However, the production of lime and cement is very energy-intensive. To keep the construction industry running, the federal government must do everything in its power to ensure energy supply even in the current crisis situation and, if necessary, cushion extreme increases in energy prices. Even in these uncertain times, the construction industry is once again proving to be a stabilizing force. For example, during the pandemic, it served as a true economic engine for the German economy. In a sense, the construction industry is also systemically important; for instance, residential construction must be significantly ramped up against the backdrop of the influx of refugees from Ukraine.”
Electricity prices have been a problem for energy-intensive industries long before the energy crisis, but the situation has recently come to a head. While the annual average electricity price on the exchange was still 30 euros per megawatt-hour in 2020, it reached an average of 235 euros in 2022. By European standards, Germany ranks at the top.
If prices remain this high by international standards, the unions are convinced that energy-intensive industries in Germany will face extinction in the medium to long term. The unions warn of a cascade effect: If efforts to keep the basic materials industry in Germany and strengthen closed-loop value chains here fail, this will have dramatic consequences for the country’s entire industrial base—and thus for jobs here—far beyond the sectors directly affected.
Furthermore, excessively high electricity costs jeopardize the transition to climate-neutral production methods, which require massive investments. The unions see a risk that these strategic investments in green technologies will take place abroad due to Germany’s high energy costs, and that the jobs of the future will be created there.
Due to rising energy prices, the DGB unions have been campaigning vigorously for months to ease the burden on people in Germany. The federal government has addressed many of these demands with its relief packages. However, to secure jobs and avoid jeopardizing the conversion of factories to climate-neutral production, another step toward a fair industrial electricity price is now necessary. This must be implemented by the end of 2023.
On March 9, workers will take to the streets as part of a nationwide day of action to demand a competitive industrial electricity price—and thus to safeguard their jobs. Several dozen public and on-site actions and rallies are planned.
