DGB Calls for Investment and Secure Jobs in Lusatia

The German Trade Union Federation (DGB) has called for a reliable plan for structural change in southern Brandenburg and eastern Saxony. Secure jobs are the top priority, emphasized Daniela Kolbe, head of the Saxony DGB, at the 21st Lusatia Conference in Hoyerswerda (Bautzen district). “Workers are worried about their jobs and are calling on policymakers to invest more in the future. Instead, however, the welfare state and workers’ rights are being slashed.” That, she said, is the wrong approach.

Reliability, employee participation, and strong public infrastructure are the key to Lusatia’s future, said Nele Techen, vice chair of the DGB Berlin-Brandenburg. “To keep young people in the region, we need investment in good wages, collective bargaining agreements, training, and housing—not budget cuts to education and public transportation.”

Kolbe: A State Capable of Taking Action Is Necessary

More than 200 representatives from labor unions, businesses, politics, government, the business sector, and academia gathered for the 21st Lusatia Conference. Under the motto “Taking Action for Good Jobs,” they discussed future-oriented industries and the creation of new jobs. They called on the federal and state governments to provide concrete answers regarding further structural change.

Kolbe emphasized that anyone who thinks social cuts or the abolition of the 8-hour workday will create more demand among companies is “off the mark.” “What is needed is a government capable of taking action—one that stimulates the economy while ensuring that social safety nets and the world of work are structured fairly.”