Germany’s largest trade union has called for working conditions to be protected as part of the EU’s Wind Power Package.
IG Metall Coast has joined forces SPD politician Bengt Bergt, to call for a joint assessment of the EU Commission’s Pact for Wind Energy and the industrial policy concept of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck.
The union said regional value creation and good, collectively agreed working conditions must be given greater consideration in industrial policy programmes to safeguard the wind industry.
District manager of IG Metall Coast Daniel Friedrich said: “The EU is finally taking up a central concern of IG Metall: In the future, renewable projects – such as wind farms – should be given a CO2 footprint criterion.
“This means that the better the CO2 balance, the more chances projects have of being realised – sustainability is rewarded.
“However, we are demanding more: good working conditions, collectively agreed wages and apprenticeships must also be rewarded.
“So far, we have lacked correspondingly hard criteria in the concepts of the EU Commission and Economics Minister Habeck.”
Bergt added: “The pact from Brussels contains important projects for which IG Metall, Social Democrats and the industry have fought for a long time.
“But this can only be a first step. The EU should get serious and introduce not only a CO2 footprint criterion but also other social sustainability criteria such as an apprenticeship quota for all renewable energy projects – preferably in combination with good jobs, i.e. collective bargaining.”
Economics Minister Habeck is proposing in his industrial strategy to include “qualitative criteria” such as a CO2 footprint in public tenders.
Friedrich said: “The minister must now turn the vague intention into a powerful strategy.
“Climate protection and social sustainability criteria must be considered together.
“Anyone who offers good working conditions and promotes skilled workers must have an advantage in tenders – points that have so far been completely missing from the industrial strategy of the Minister of Economic Affairs.”