IG Metall has called on Berlin politicians to significantly increase their commitment to industry in the capital after the repeat election. It doesn’t matter who sits in the Red City Hall in the future: I expect a future coalition to make a clear commitment to the industry and to try to get settlements here, said Jan Otto, first representative of IG Metall Berlin, the German press agency. Industrial policy must be a top priority. I expect a governing mayor to actively seek dialogue with corporations that are to be brought to Berlin.
The past year has been difficult in terms of industrial policy. Unfortunately, we only had one industrial policy steering committee last year. Under Michael Müller (SPD), we had such meetings on average three to four times a year, said Otto. We didn’t make any progress on that last year.
In the digital economy in particular, the potential of the capital is currently not being fully exploited. If they have one thing in Berlin, then that’s the attraction for young people. We get the people that no other metropolis can attract, said Otto. In addition, the discussion about the lack of space in Berlin, for example for the settlement of companies, bothers him a lot. Anyone who says Berlin doesn’t have any areas simply doesn’t go to the East, they obviously only move in Prenzlauer Berg.
In the past few months, politicians have focused very much on the major crises. It was often forgotten that there are changes that have long been underway. All the discussions that we have: the transformation of industry, the area debate, the shortage of skilled workers – politicians have neglected that a bit lately.
Otto has been the first authorized representative of IG Metall Berlin since September 2020. The 42-year-old had previously held this position in East Saxony for a good five years.
In Berlin, the union was recently able to slightly increase its membership. At the end of 2022, IG Metall Berlin had around 23,400 company members – compared to 21,500 in 2012.
