“At our combined heat and power plant, we generate electricity and district heating from natural gas and blast furnace gas. The blast furnace gas comes from the neighboring ArcelorMittal steel mill; it’s a byproduct of pig iron and steel production. To put it simply, here’s how it works: By burning metallurgical gas, we heat water to produce superheated steam, which drives a steam turbine, and the generator converts mechanical energy into electrical energy—that is, electricity. In turn, we supply the steel mill, the surrounding industrial parks, and the city of Eisenhüttenstadt with electricity. As a power plant operator, I operate and monitor our power plant systems. The physical aspect of the job is fairly minimal; I mostly sit in the central control room and watch a lot of screens. The whole process is no walk in the park—you really have to understand it. Because every decision I make has immediate consequences. You have to know what you’re doing. After all, we have supply contracts to fulfill; we have to deliver electricity and heat and keep the power plant running.
When you work shifts, your circle of friends automatically changes, and you end up doing a lot with other shift workers. We only have every fourth weekend off as a rule. To make up for that, we get Wednesdays off—but there isn’t much going on here in the region then. So we get together with coworkers and sometimes play poker until four in the morning. Once you’ve decided to work shifts, you have to live with it. And there are advantages, too. Don’t forget: thanks to the collective bargaining agreement, we’re paid fairly.
A union ensures that ordinary people with quiet voices can achieve something together because they have a strong community behind them. That’s why I also devote a lot of time to my union work. During my apprenticeship, I was a youth representative. That’s where I got to know IG Metall, and from then on it was clear: I wanted to do more there. Now I’m on the works council. It’s a great feeling when your coworkers recognize you as a young person, trust you, and elect you to the works council.”
