Steel crisis in Völklingen: Employees demonstrate for the future of industry!

Steel crisis in Völklingen: Employees demonstrate for the future of industry!

in Völklingen, Rhineland-Palatinate, gather between 2,000 and 3,000 steel employees today to demonstrate for the preservation of their jobs. n-tv looks towards. As part of a company meeting that is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Saarstahl suffers from the weakening automotive industry, which has a significant impact on steel production. The first representative of IG Metall in Völklingen, Lars Desgrang, made it clear in his statement that the workforce made concessions in the previous year. The aim of today's demonstration is to draw attention to the importance of the steel industry in Germany and Europe. This is done with the demand for political support from the future federal government.

savings plans and economic challenges

Company spokesman has announced that savings measures are already planned for this year. These measures are due to the persistently poor economic and market developments as well as the high energy prices. However, there are no concrete information on the amount of the savings. Terminations and location closings are currently not an issue.

Bauforum steel states that the steel industry in Germany is responsible for 27% of total EU steel production.

The vision of a four-day week

Another important point in the discussion about the future of the steel industry are the reforms that are initiated by IG Metall. The focus is particularly on the demand for a four-day week. Augsburger Allgemeine reports that IG Metall strives to reduce the weekly working time from 35 to 32 hours with full wages. The aim of this initiative is to relieve the workers and make the industry more attractive for young people.

The negotiator Knut Giesler was optimistic about the feedback on the four-day week and noted that implementation, especially in the administration and in two-shift operation, was assessed. In the long run, this approach could help prevent the loss of jobs in the steel industry, which appear inevitable in the course of change towards a more environmentally friendly production process.

The diverse challenges that the steel industry is facing not only require dealing with economic problems. A conversion from the carbon -based heavy industry to the production of green steel is also sought. In the long term, the industry has set itself the goal of achieving a CO2 saving of 40% by 2030, with the long-term goal of a climate-neutral production by 2045.

Today's demonstration is a crucial step in order to draw attention to the challenges of the steel industry and to strengthen the application for the necessary support from politics. The problems are complex, but the workforce makes it clear that it is ready to fight for her future.