Press Statement End the regime of fear in the labor market

Hans-Jürgen Urban, Executive Board Member of IG Metall: “Greater protection and respect in the basic income security system is good for the unemployed because it means the system will lose a significant part of its controlling practices. And it’s also good for workers because, with the basic income, they’ll have much less to fear from social decline in the future if they face the threat of job loss. Anyone who now claims that hard-working people would be disadvantaged by the basic income is factually wrong and is trying to sow division.

The planned basic income is characterized by the fact that it puts an end to the regime of fear in the labor market. It means a bit more social security instead of immediate fear of social decline and the loss of savings. Employees and the unemployed must not continue to be pitted against one another. Those who attack the basic income and want to maintain Hartz IV are only further fueling a downward spiral that threatens to drag down the incomes of workers as well.

The argument that many workers have little disposable income despite having a job says far more about the scandalous expansion of the low-wage sector and precarious employment than it does about overly generous social benefits.”

Further information and press photos of Hans-Jürgen Urban