Workers are fighting for green steel Steel workers demand: “Deliver on your promise, Mr. Habeck”

 “Our path to a green future is at risk,” Tekin Nasikkol shouts into the microphone. The chairman of the General Works Council of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG makes it clear: “We can and we want to produce green steel—we just need to be allowed to do so.” 12,000 steelworkers agree: “Steel is the future,” they shout back. They’re wearing green vests emblazoned with the slogan “Our heart of steel has a green future” or red T-shirts that read: “Standing still has never gotten anything done.” By the end, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck will also be wearing one of the red T-shirts.

Politicians Fail to Deliver Promised Funding

The steelworkers are angry. In three years, they want to take the first step toward climate-neutral steel production in Duisburg and are now building a new facility for that purpose—but politicians are failing to deliver the promised subsidies, thereby jeopardizing the workers’ future. “The Chancellor, the Minister of Economic Affairs, even the Federal President—they’ve all been here in recent months, but the promised money still hasn’t arrived,” criticizes IG Metall Executive Board member Jürgen Kerner, who sits on the supervisory board of the parent company Thyssenkrupp. This puts the company in a difficult situation, because the new plant has already been ordered and the plant manufacturer now needs certainty.

But the clock is ticking for another reason as well. Tekin Nasikkol, chairman of the general works council, explains: “All over the world, investments are being made in new facilities for green steel. If we don’t get a foothold now, the others will snatch our customers away, and that will spell the end for us.”
 

Thyssenkrupp Steel Works Council member Tekin Nasikkol with Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck at the Steel Action Day in Duisburg

Berlin and Brussels are still at odds

To produce climate-neutral steel, blast furnaces must be replaced with direct reduction plants. But these are very expensive. Thyssenkrupp’s first plant will cost around two billion euros. And that’s just the first one. Companies cannot shoulder these investments on their own. Following significant pressure from IG Metall, policymakers have come to understand two key points. First, the steel industry is systemically important to the German economy. And second: the industry will cease to exist in Germany if it does not receive financial support for the transition to climate-neutral production. Accordingly, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck promised the domestic steel industry the necessary funding.

But just as the first industrial-scale plant is set to be built in Duisburg, things are starting to hit a snag. The funds from policymakers haven’t arrived yet, because policymakers in Brussels haven’t yet paved the way for these investments. Although the German federal government and the European Commission had reached an agreement—that the transition to green steel may be supported with public funds—Brussels and Berlin are still arguing over just how high the government subsidies can be.
 

Habeck insists: The money is coming

All the back-and-forth over the subsidies had led the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs to suggest that it might not be able to fully honor its funding commitments. But IG Metall would not accept this backtracking on the promise and, in an open letter, urged the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs to honor his commitments. That, combined with the announcement of a day of action involving thousands of metalworkers, increased the pressure and had an effect.

A little over a week before IG Metall’s day of action, Habeck traveled to the headquarters of the long-established company and assured them that the money would come. And on the day of action, he arrived with good news: “On Monday, we received a letter from Brussels stating that we can provide the full amount of funding,” the minister reported. But then he added: “What’s missing is a bit of discussion about the fine print.” 12,000 metalworkers responded to this update with boos and a chorus of whistles.

Politicians Have Not Done Their Homework So Far

There are 13 blast furnaces in operation in Germany—all of which must be replaced by direct reduction plants, and problems are already arising with the very first plants; Thyssenkrupp is by no means an isolated case. The necessary infrastructure is also lacking in many places. Direct reduction plants require hydrogen to produce steel in a climate-neutral manner. But there is a lack of pipelines for transport, as well as a significant expansion of renewable energy sources needed to produce green hydrogen. And then there are the high energy costs. IG Metall is calling for an industrial electricity rate so that steel mills in Germany can produce competitively. But Finance Minister Christian Lindner, in particular, is still resisting.

Political wrangling is unsettling the entire industry

All of this is making more than just Thyssenkrupp Steel employees nervous. “We, too, are on the verge of making investments. And we, too, have not yet received an official funding approval,” reports Wolfgang Kleber, works council chairman at ArcelorMittal in Duisburg. What’s currently happening at Thyssenkrupp is deeply unsettling for employees at his site. That’s why the metalworker makes it clear: “The federal government made a commitment. Now it has to stick to it. No one understands this back-and-forth. Steel only has a future if we set the course now. The government has to decide: Does it still want steel production in Germany, or not? We’re turning up the pressure now.”

Investments in green steel have the greatest impact

At HKM, too, people don’t understand why the money hasn’t been on the table long ago. “If Robert Habeck is serious about the ecological transition, then he must act now. Steel is a major source of CO2 emissions. Every euro invested in our industry has a two- or threefold positive impact on our carbon footprint,” explains Marco Gasse, chairman of the works council at HKM Duisburg. Gasse emphasizes: “That’s why I don’t understand why the Minister of Economic Affairs is hesitating now, while Berlin and Brussels are passing the buck back and forth. We at HKM urgently need the transformation to finally get underway. To do that, we need investment and certainty.”

Habeck Promises to Transform the Entire Steel Industry

After Economy Minister Habeck was only able to reaffirm his promise regarding subsidies at the Steel Summit, he made a new one to steel industry workers: “I want the entire steel industry in Germany to be transformed.” 12,000 metalworkers were there to witness it, and Tekin Nasikkol emphasizes: “We take you at your word, Mr. Habeck!”