2023-10-27 12:52:54
A woman for the restructuring of German industry
Christiane Benner is the first woman to lead the largest union in the world. She is demanding cheaper electricity from Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while the AfD accuses her of only offering slogans.
Open to questions about the future: Christiane Benner was elected head of IG Metall on Monday.
Foto: Thomas Lohnes (Getty Images)
IG Metall is a colossus – and a German institution: 132 years old, with 2.2 million members, the largest free union in the world. It represents the interests of workers in the German auto, mechanical engineering, steel and electrical industries – the core area of Germany’s economic power.
The “Metallers” union has always been a male domain, a “car shop”. The proportion of women among the members is 20 percent; the boss was usually a man from Baden-Württemberg who negotiated higher wages with the men at Mercedes, VW, BMW and Porsche.
Unsuccessful maneuver by the patriarchs against them
The election of 55-year-old Christiane Benner to the top of IG Metall also shows that the unions have recently modernized faster than the companies. With Yasmin Fahimi, a woman has been at the head of the German Trade Union Confederation for the first time since May 2022.
Benner should actually be deported there, according to the plan of some IG Metall patriarchs, to ensure that a man from the “Autoländle” of Baden-Württemberg comes to the top again – and not the woman from Frankfurt who was actually intended for this job. The maneuver failed because Benner coolly turned down the sweet offer and was strong enough to assert himself at IG Metall. She didn’t want to leave, she recently told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”: “I love this militant shop.”
“Change is female”: Benner celebrates her election with a well-known American poster from 1943.
Foto: Thomas Lohnes (Getty Images)
Benner joined IG Metall in 1988 at the age of 20, then studied sociology on a scholarship and married the union’s former chief lawyer. The former handball player is considered an excellent team player. On the board, of which she has been a member since 2011, she was not concerned with collective bargaining agreements, but rather with vital questions about the future.
“We are in the middle of the biggest restructuring of our industry in 100 years,” said Benner in her speech at the beginning of the week in which she thanked her for her brilliant election to the top of IG Metall. For once, these are not too big words: In order to move away from fossil fuels, the industry has to reinvent itself, and at the same time digitalization is revolutionizing the entire world of work.
There is fear in the industry – the AfD benefits
Especially in the auto and steel industries the fear is about: When it comes to electric cars, German manufacturers are lagging behind the Americans from Tesla and the Chinese; the remaining steel makers will only survive in Germany if they soon have access to cheap green hydrogen.
The concern that Germany could gradually de-industrialize as a result of this change and thereby lose part of its prosperity is currently inspiring parties such as the right-wing extremist party Alternative for Germany – something with regard to previous ones developments in the USA, Great Britain or France are hardly surprised. Benner warns the workers not to fall for their claims of decline. The AfD has no solutions to offer, only clumsy slogans.
Clear message: Benner wants to convince Chancellor Olaf Scholz of reduced electricity prices for the energy-intensive industry.
Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev (AFP)
The trade unionist sees both companies and the state as having an equal responsibility in the major transformation. Corporations need to look ahead sooner and further instead of simply moving jobs abroad as soon as problems arise. It demands more subsidies, investments and a coherent industrial policy from the government.
This week, the comrade urged the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz to finally guarantee industry cheaper electricity until cheap renewable energies are available to the extent required. Scholz is still hesitant about this, but at least he told Benner that they were looking for a solution.
A step towards a 4-day week?
One of her most important future projects is the introduction of the 4-day week with constant wages, which is particularly desired by many female workers. Pilot negotiations are currently underway for the 70,000 employees in the steel industry. Whether they will be successful now also depends on the persuasiveness of the first woman at the top of IG Metall.
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