Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall held a day of action to warn of potential massive job losses in the steel industry. Under the slogan “Steel Is the Future,” around 45,000 workers in the industry across Germany demonstrated for fair operating conditions for the European and German steel industries. “For every one of the 85,000 steel industry jobs, there are more than six and a half workers in the downstream sectors that depend on it. That is why this industrial strength in Germany must not be put at risk. Above all, we need our federal government to take a clear stance in Brussels,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, at a rally attended by 16,000 participants on Monday in Duisburg.
Thanks to high levels of investment in climate protection, Germany has the most environmentally friendly steel production in the world. “Anyone who imposes excessive burdens on the steel industry in the future will hinder investment and drive the sector into crisis. It does not serve the global climate if steel is produced only in places where significantly higher emissions are emitted,” Hofmann warned.
These concerns stem from the European Commission’s proposals, as known so far, regarding the fourth phase of the Emissions Trading System (ETS). IG Metall is calling for the steel industry to continue receiving a pro-rata allocation of free emission allowances that takes into account the specific production conditions of this basic materials industry, and for the top 10 percent of the most climate-efficient steel mills to receive a fully free allocation.
In addition, IG Metall is calling on the federal government to extend the grandfather clause for EEG-exempt on-site power generation beyond 2017. Today, the by-product gases generated during steel production—which used to be burned off without being utilized—cover 50 percent of the industry’s total energy needs. “Anyone who undermines this ecologically sound cycle through misguided regulation is harming the environment and jobs,” said Hofmann.
In light of the increase in subsidized steel imports from China, which are flooding the European market with dumped prices, Hofmann called on policymakers to make a swift decision on more effective trade defense instruments against unfair competitive conditions. “Europe must not be the only region in the world that is defenseless in this regard.” The situation, which is already unacceptable, would worsen further should China become a full member of the World Trade Organization at the end of 2016, said the IG Metall chairman.
Federal Minister of Economics Sigmar Gabriel also spoke at the rally. “Competitive companies must not be driven out of the market by subsidized imports. That would be a flagrant violation of fair competition and the rules of world trade. For Germany as a steel-producing nation and its jobs, fair competition on a global scale is indispensable and vital for survival. “I will not agree to any climate policy plan that jeopardizes the future of German steel production and thus becomes a program of deindustrialization. Industry is part of the solution, not the problem. A sound climate policy is only possible with a modern industrial sector in Germany and Europe,” Gabriel said.
Further protests by steelworkers took place on Monday in many other regions, supported by representatives from politics and industry associations: 20,300 workers demonstrated at the Saarland steel sites in Völklingen, Dillingen, Neunkirchen, and Saarbrücken. In Berlin, 2,500 steel industry workers from the northeastern federal states took part in a rally in front of the Federal Chancellery. Numerous demonstrations also took place at other locations in Thuringia, Hesse, Baden, and Bavaria.
As early as Thursday, April 7, 2016, more than 4,000 Salzgitter AG employees had demonstrated at the kickoff event in Salzgitter for better conditions in the steel industry.
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Further information from IG Metall is available at www.igmetall.de/presse and at https://www.igmetall.de/stahl-ist-zukunft-21150.htm
