J\u00fcrgen Kerner, vice-president of Germany\u2019s largest trade union, IG Metall, warned that Europe\u2019s former industrial heartland must act urgently to overcome economic turmoil and prevent deindustrialisation, which has already led to thousands of job cuts.<\/p>\n
IG Metall represents 2.2 million workers in the automobile, machinery, steel, and electronics industries. Numerous companies have announced layoffs in recent months, including Germany\u2019s largest carmaker, Volkswagen; the largest steelmaker, ThyssenKrupp; and various automotive suppliers.<\/p>\n
Kerner argued to Euractiv <\/i>that the EU and the new government \u201ccan still stop job losses\u201d with \u201cjoint action.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trade unionist explained that they are currently facing both a crisis of demand and a crisis related to industrial transformation. He emphasized that it is still possible to halt three years of job losses in energy-intensive sectors to counter this trend.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this, politicians must act together, but employers must also act responsibly,\u201d said Kerner, arguing that the share of industry in Germany\u2019s GDP must be increased again.<\/p>\n
According to Kerner, all industrialised countries in Europe are in crisis, but Germany has one of the highest industrial shares. Since all industries are internationally interconnected, when German industry weakens, the impact spreads from Central Europe to the East and West.<\/p>\n
The challenges are similar everywhere, Kerner noted, including the fact that markets are no longer as open as they used to be and that high energy costs persist, as illustrated by \u201cAmerica First\u201d policies and industrial strategies in China.<\/p>\n
When reminded that economists often argue that the transition from industry to services is \u201ca natural part of economic development,\u201d Kerner responded: \u201cWe have to accept that deindustrialisation in the US or the UK, for example, has not led to a richer society but has left many people working in services that they cannot make a living from. The proportion of highly skilled services is not sufficient to replace industrial jobs. As a trade union, we need to make it clear that we can\u2019t all make a living cutting hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want answers that normal people can understand,\u201d the union leader said, adding that America and China have completely closed their doors in various technologies and sectors. This means that excess capacity is being brought to Europe, and Europe must respond accordingly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to sell products in Europe, they must have a European production share,\u201d Kerner said, adding that they also want Chinese cars to be produced in Europe\u2014not just final assembly, but also with a certain proportion of local suppliers.<\/p>\n
Kerner pointed out that what he fundamentally rejected was allowing products to be sold in Europe at \u201cdumping prices\u201d or produced under poor working conditions, leading to the disappearance of European production.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy impression is that [European Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen has also realised that we need this,\u201d Kerner claimed.<\/p>\n
Asked whether this transformation would jeopardise the German export model, Kerner responded: \u201cWe have to take into account what is happening in the US and China. So I don\u2019t think we are jeopardising anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerner said that Trump and China were not models for them because these countries had \u201ccompletely closed themselves off.\u201d He pointed out that no one from IG Metall had called for \u201c100 per cent European production.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kerner concluded: \u201cWe just want to make it clear: If you want to be active in the European market, you must bring a certain amount of production share with you. We can do this without bringing the trade that we Germans, in particular, benefit from to a standstill.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
J\u00fcrgen Kerner, vice-president of Germany\u2019s largest trade union, IG Metall, warned that Europe\u2019s former industrial heartland must act urgently to overcome economic turmoil and prevent deindustrialisation, which has already led to thousands of job cuts. IG Metall represents 2.2 million workers in the automobile, machinery, steel, and electronics industries. Numerous companies have announced layoffs in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7645,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4995,6041,2518,6040,1462,4039,6042,6039,6043,2011],"class_list":["post-7644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-deindustrialisation","tag-energy-intensive-sectors","tag-european-commission","tag-european-industrial-policy","tag-german-economy","tag-ig-metall","tag-industrial-transformation","tag-jurgen-kerner","tag-trade-unions","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"],"yoast_head":"\n