Cologne –
In the Corona crisis, a glaring light fell on the “deep social division in our city”, said Witich Roßmann, chairman of the DGB city association Cologne, when he spoke on Saturday at the DGB rally on May 1st. Around 700 participants had come to the Heumarkt – wearing masks and keeping the necessary distance from one another.
“Incidence zero in Hahnwald, incidences of 500, 600, 700 in Chorweiler, Kalk and Libur,” said Roßmann. “It becomes dramatically clear what tight living conditions, inadequate sanitary and digital equipment in our schools mean for all people who are affected by the Corona crisis not to survive in comfortable homes, fully digitized and with a full wallet. ”This was where he linked one of his demands to city policy:“ Affordable living space must be given top priority. ”
Motto for the day
“Solidarity is the future” was the DGB motto for this Labor Day. It is important to fight “solidary future solutions against all undesirable social developments, including those of the pre-Corona period,” said Roßmann. For the time after the federal election, “major distribution conflicts” are to be expected. Therefore, the DGB confronts all Cologne Bundestag members with demands to prevent social cuts.
The debts that the state is making for the Corona aid packages should not be “dumped on the backs of the workers”. Rather, a “social burden sharing” should be ensured: “The rich and wealthy in our country and the big profiteers from the Corona crisis have to make their contribution through a one-off property levy.” Regarding climate protection, Roßmann said that the council elections had “broad majorities for an ecological one Bringing the renewal of Cologne and a coalition paper with many good declarations of intent ”.
Resistance to climate protection
But he worries that climate protection “will be undermined by diverse political and bureaucratic resistance,” and he fears “that Cologne will not even achieve the Paris climate targets set in 2050.” In the fight against the “right-wing populists”, however, the city could take action To be a “model for the republic”.
The “historical crisis” shows “how important trade unions are,” said Gabriele Schmidt, head of the Verdi landing district in North Rhine-Westphalia. “We were able to secure income in many areas, prevent layoffs and cushion social hardship.” The welfare state has proven its worth in the pandemic. ”On the other hand, the crisis has“ relentlessly disclosed deficits. ”For example, low-wage recipients and part-time workers could barely live on their short-time work benefits, and self-employed people, mini-jobbers and others fell through the social network.
Collective bargaining coverage is to be strengthened
Schmidt also spoke of “distribution conflicts”. Among other things, she called for the collective bargaining agreement to be strengthened, the minimum wage to be raised “quickly to twelve euros” and for a “large public and non-profit housing sector” to be created. Anyone who insists on paying off their debts as quickly as possible after the crisis “lays the ax to the welfare state”. The “debt brake” is “in practice a brake on investment and the future.” The necessary public investments could be financed with loans, and the wealthy should higher Paying taxes: “If you want to spend more money on education, health and social issues, you have to take private wealth into account.”
Robert Flesch, chairman of the works council at the perfume manufacturer Coty in Cologne, denounced that the group wanted to close the Bickendorfer site – the former 4711 plant – although the 300 employees had previously made major concessions to keep jobs. And Maja Cole, chairwoman of the DGB youth in Cologne, recalled the problems of the younger generation in the pandemic. After losing their part-time job, students are “simply left with no income,” and the transition from school to training is even more difficult.
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