Yasmin Fahimi: DGB boss warns of social overload on account of inexperienced transformation | EUROtoday

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DThe head of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), Yasmin Fahimi, fears that the transformation of the economic system in direction of local weather neutrality will overwhelm the inhabitants. “Many employees experience every day what is happening in the company and that they either have higher private costs or that the investment costs at their location cannot be covered by the companies,” Fahimi informed WELT AM SONNTAG.

It is an “open secret” that jobs are in danger. “That is why we really have to talk about whether the pace of transformation is realistic and sustainable in every case. Or whether some objectives could not be better spread over a somewhat longer period of time,” stated Fahimi.

However, the general objective of being local weather impartial by 2045 ought to be maintained. “I am concerned with the concrete expansion targets and the question of how we create transition phases. And above all, what priorities are required now,” stated Fahimi.

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It is already virtually not possible that gas-fired energy vegetation will have the ability to run one hundred pc on hydrogen from 2030 and even 2035. “These power plants, which now have to be built at great expense in order to keep the power grids stable, will still emit CO₂ then,” stated the DGB boss. “Against this background, the discussion as to whether we can't get out of coal-fired power generation even sooner, ideally by 2030, is pretty pointless.”

Fahimi spoke out in favor of extra aid on power costs. “We need clear signals to private end consumers that ecological transformation does not mean that everything will become more expensive without anything getting better for me,” she stated. “In politics, across all parties, it has long been underestimated that social acceptance of the transformation is not just a nice addition, but the prerequisite for the transformation to succeed.” The DGB is subsequently calling for “network charges to be financed from tax revenue and for electricity taxes to be reduced to the European minimum.”

The Green Deal additionally must be tailored on the European degree. “You can't just promote green end products,” stated Fahimi. “We need to maintain essential production capacities in Europe at least to a minimum extent – be it steel, glass, ceramics, cement or chemicals.”

Relief in power costs by way of reform of the debt brake

The Green Deal doesn’t adequately mirror this problem. “It creates the impression that there is good and bad industrial production. But it is about value chains,” stated the DGB boss.

In order to finance the discount in power costs, Fahimi once more spoke out in favor of a reform of the debt brake. She disagrees with Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) “when he says there is no revenue problem, only an expenditure problem,” she stated. That is “the political starting point for mowing over all social achievements – at a time when people actually need more reliability and more support.”

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Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is clearly on the aspect of the unions. “I am certainly not prepared to gamble away the future of future generations by making the wrong decisions,” stated Fahimi. “Instead, I expect the federal government to pursue an economic policy geared to the future and not a social cutback. The finance minister expects that the axe will now be laid to rest in the social sector.”

The federal authorities's funds negotiations might subsequently “become a real test for the coalition,” stated the DGB head. “I believe that they will reach an agreement, but I am not convinced that the results will ultimately provide clarity about where Germany is headed.”