PRESS RELEASE “Skim off crisis profits – cap costs!” IG Metall launches energy campaign

Frankfurt – In light of inflation driven by energy costs, IG Metall is calling on the federal government to urgently implement further relief measures. According to the union, the relief packages introduced so far have failed to offset the financial strain, particularly for citizens with low and moderate incomes. This applies especially to the coming year, 2023. To ensure a fair response to the price crisis, IG Metall launched a petition campaign on Thursday under the slogan “Skim off crisis profits – cap costs!”

Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall: “An average household expects 1,000 euros in additional energy costs this year. In 2023, there is even the threat of an extra burden that would eat up a monthly income of 2,500 euros. On top of that, food prices are rising. This enormous problem requires a political solution and active government intervention. While some corporations are raking in huge profits, households are reaching the limits of what they can bear.”

Specifically, IG Metall is calling for further and fairer measures beyond the federal government’s existing relief packages. This includes the introduction of a gas price cap for households’ basic needs, a reduction in the electricity tax, and another relief package that will continue to ease the burden on households in 2023 as the cost of living is expected to rise further. All households should be taken into account. It is incomprehensible why retirees, students, and the unemployed have only been partially included in the relief packages to date.

Part of the necessary funding should come from skimming off extraordinary crisis profits. “A select few are enriching themselves off the crisis, while a large portion of the population is footing the bill: this must come to an end,” said Hofmann. Accordingly, the union is calling for a special tax on “windfall profits”—excess profits earned by companies that ruthlessly exploit their market power.

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