Jürgen Kerner, second chairman of the IG Metall and the board of the union, among others, responsible for the steel industry: “This decision is strategically short -sighted, entrepreneurial, incorrect and with regard to the employees as well as the following social consequences to the highest degree. The only way to do this is the only way to do this. Thousands of jobs in Bremen, Eisenhüttenstadt and Duisburg.
The U -turn that ArcelorMittal is doing here must call politicians on the scene. It is not about any management decision from any company. The question of whether it is possible to keep the basic material industry in Germany decides whether Germany remains a wealthy, socially balanced industrial country. We cannot leave this question to unpredictable managers. The federal government must now immediately convene a crisis summit for the steel industry and make this strategic question a top priority. It is unacceptable that France creates facts through a politically subsidized industrial current, while Germany is cumbersome to find solutions for European forms. Steel also has to become a top priority with us. “