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24 September, 2007
A Youth Action Day by German affiliate IGBCE, on 19 September, produced a commitment by the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia to create 205 training positions, funded at €10,000 each, to offset lost employment opportunities from the recent agreement in the coal industry.
The commitment came after youth leaders of the IGBCE met with North-Rhine/Westphalia Employment Minister Karl Josef Laumann.
Some 2,000 students and young workers of IGBCE’s Youth Network protested in Düsseldorf on that day. They came from youth committees from several German companies, including BASF and Evonik Industries. Evonik is the new publicly-traded company created from state coal company RAG. It comprises RAG’s power stations, chemicals, and real estate businesses, and was formed in discussions on the future of Germany’s coal industry.
IGBCE's Michael Vassiliadis
“The actions of the young workers of our union have made this a success,” said Michael Vassiliadis, head of IGBCE’s Youth Activities. “Now we will undertake all efforts so that the 205 young persons will be afforded the opportunity to start their work lives with the necessary training.”
The IGBCE stressed that the €10,000-per-job commitment from the state will fund only part of the training. Funds have been set aside for this purpose from the hard-coal agreement, and the union said social partners from the employer side must step forward to provide additional training funds.