IG Metall action day at the Siempelkamp Foundry

On the premises of the Siempelkamp Foundry, the employees of the foundry met with representatives of IG Metall Krefeld to demand the immediate and unbureaucratic introduction of an industrial electricity price.

Trade unionists, foundry workers and the foundry management protested unitedly against the ongoing political debate hiccups around the possible implementation of a bridge electricity price for the energy-intensive industry in order to create the basis for the urgently needed transformations. They also criticised the partial abolition of the top tax equalisation scheme, which will place an additional burden on the industry from next year.

Demand for competitive electricity prices and clear commitment to Germany as an industrial location

"During the election campaign, the current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a clear election promise for an industrial electricity price of 4 cents per kilowatt hour. We now expect this promise to finally be kept after more than 24 months of far too high electricity costs. An industrial electricity price, as it also applies in other EU countries, will help medium-sized companies to keep electricity prices predictable and competitive again," clarifies Dirk Howe, Managing Director of Siempelkamp Giesserei. He adds: "We now need competitive electricity prices, not additional tax increases, which do not penalise sustainable economic activity and product manufacturing that is systemically relevant for the energy transition, but promote it. We expect the policy promises to be kept and a clear and responsible correction of the current course of the federal government!"

Ralf Claessen, managing director of IG Metall Krefeld, agrees: "Without a bridge electricity price model, the lights will soon go out for many energy-intensive companies in Germany. They will relocate or have to admit defeat in international competition. This means that thousands of well-trained jobs are on the line and value chains will break down. If politicians in Germany and Europe do not act consistently and comprehensively, this will have massive consequences - for Germany as a whole as an industrial location, for social peace, and for the future viability of Europe. Without bridges, there is no traffic - this applies to the road and also to the digital and energy transformation."

Siempelkamp Foundry presents sustainable financing solution

Both IG Metall and Siempelkamp Giesserei emphasised during the day of action in Krefeld that they do not expect any subsidies "from the watering can" and also do not need any tax gifts tied to countless conditions. Instead, the state could use the industrial electricity price profitably in the future. In the sense of interim financing, a plannable industrial electricity price introduced now can be balanced out with the low electricity prices from renewable energies of tomorrow. This means: the state supports companies in financing the current additional electricity costs and receives the difference back when electricity prices are low in the future. Such a universal "contract for difference" for energy-intensive industry creates planning security on all sides, which is a basic prerequisite for necessary investments. At the same time, the state would not have to worry about the financial viability of the industrial electricity price, which is currently the biggest stumbling block in the political debate on this topic. This is exactly the kind of measure the WSF fund was originally intended for. The foundry and IG Metall are therefore hoping that their day of action will fall on open ears with the government: "Politics must not only listen to the voice of large corporations, but must also take into account the concerns of the broadly diversified SME sector as the backbone of the German economy," says Howe.