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"Many companies have used the fairway of price increases"

Tanja Chawla knows the feeling of not knowing what to do next professionally.

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"Many companies have used the fairway of price increases"

Tanja Chawla knows the feeling of not knowing what to do next professionally. She herself has a long history of fixed-term employment contracts - "not quite as precarious", as the 48-year-old emphasizes. She was either employed at a university or in research. “But I was constantly worried about my security because of the time limits,” explains Chawla, who once completed her studies in economics and social economics with a diploma.

For a year now she has been chairwoman and managing director of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) in Hamburg, speaking for 200,000 members - and also based on her own experience has one goal: "What can social justice and social participation look like, what can good work look like? I want to help shape that.”

It is noticeable how much Chawla is concerned about the topic when she invites WELT AM SONNTAG to her office on the tenth floor of the union building at Besenbinderhof. From their point of view, trade unions have “achieved historically unbelievable things”. Continuing payment of wages in the event of illness is an achievement of the welfare state, Chawla cites as an example. Although she was “repeatedly opposed by employers in collective bargaining” that continued payment of wages in the event of illness should be abolished. "It's an attitude that doesn't question what drives people to get sick." There are currently issues that politicians need to tackle more intensively, "e.g. to counteract a collective bargaining agreement that has been declining for years and not to restrict the co-determination of employees".

The demands of Hamburg's top trade unionist come at a time that is more tense than it has been for a long time due to the pandemic, the Ukraine war and the energy crisis. Parts of the economy are groaning under the lack of personnel and skilled workers as well as high energy and raw material prices. In many companies, the reserves have already been used up after the pandemic, and there are new challenges such as high inflation. Some companies react with short-time work, others have to close their business. Employee representatives like Tanja Chawla will also be important in the coming weeks and months.

According to the latest economic barometer from the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, in which 510 companies participated last autumn, the business climate in the city has deteriorated for the fourth time in a row compared to the previous quarters. When it comes to expectations for the next few months, 51.5 percent of companies anticipate a “rather unfavorable” development. Only 4.3 percent forecast a “rather more favorable business situation”. The prospects in the construction industry are particularly bleak, while the financial sector is comparatively optimistic. In such times, every company considers whether to invest, hire new employees - or even lay off.

According to the DGB, "many companies have used the wake of price increases to boost their profits". Inflation is thus driven not only by high energy costs but also by the profit-price spiral. Despite rising wages, the bottom line is that real wages will fall by 4.7 percent in 2022. “At the moment, the colleagues have less money in their wallets. We need to find a balance quickly so that we can maintain our purchasing power,” says Chawla. Now the companies have to do their part in overcoming the crisis, which is why the unions will “self-confidently negotiate new collective agreements for eleven million employees nationwide” in the new year.

Chawla announces correspondingly “tough collective bargaining rounds”: “We expect a clear concession from employers, also in the public sector right at the beginning of the year.” For example, when Hamburg’s Senator for Finance Andreas Dressel (SPD) priced only 1.5 percent into the budget for upcoming tariff increases , elicits “not even a weary smile”. That needs to be improved. "We hope for realistic numbers, the inflation adjustment must be covered," says the DGB boss.

Chawla himself comes from a working-class family. Born as the daughter of a businessman from India and a home economics teacher in the Schleswig-Holstein district of Dithmarschen, she first completed an apprenticeship as a teacher before studying economics and social economics. After completing her Master of Science in London, she worked in feminist work with girls, with a member of parliament for the Left Party and in research and teaching at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg. In 2016, the independent Chawla moved to the United Services Union (Verdi) and was responsible for security services and temporary work.

Chawla lives with her partner in a self-managed housing project in the Schanze. As an association, the residents have leased the house from a cooperative and take care of everything themselves, from rent to maintenance. “We want to work together as a group. I consider that a great privilege,” explains Chawla. Both professionally and privately, her heart beats for political discussions, “half the night long, with a good glass of red wine”.

The job at Verdi was her first permanent employment contract, before that she was like many young employees: According to the Federal Statistical Office, 7.4 percent of employees in Germany aged 25 and over were in temporary employment in 2021, mostly with an employment contract with a term of less than one Year. Since December 2021, Chawla has been the full-time managing director of the DGB Hamburg, which includes eight unions, including the police union, IG Bau, IG BCE, IG Metall, EVG, GEW, NGG and Verdi. "A lot is changing in the context of the change in the working world through digitization and automation," says the DGB boss.

It is crucial for the employees that they are included in the transformation, that co-determination, further training, qualification, collective agreements and job security are the focus. "This basis still has to be created in many places," says Chawla. But the number of companies in Hamburg that are not bound by collective agreements is increasing. As of 2020, “only around 24 percent of all companies still offer their employees protection through future-proof collective agreements”. According to the DGB, collective agreements secure employment, promote fair pay and actively shape changes in the world of work.

"In particular, increasing the purchasing power of the low and middle income classes strengthens consumption and thus our country's economic output." According to Chawla, high inflation increases the risk of slipping into income poverty. That's why Hamburg's top trade unionist is calling for "strong wage increases and relief that don't work according to the watering can principle, but arrive where they are needed".

In addition, she suggests a pay-as-you-go training guarantee, with which companies that provide training receive a fee. "And isn't it our social obligation to also give those young people who might need a little more support a chance," asks Chawla - and gives the answer himself.

Chawla believes that society in Germany is rich and strong enough to take the time to ensure that no one is left behind. Nevertheless, there are areas where the conflicting interests of employers and employees "are clearly evident and where trade unions still have a lot to do together with the employees". She adds: "We create bargaining power and representation of interests at eye level, especially where neoliberalism is at work." Her concern is "that strange conspiracy ideologies or right-wing tendencies will increase and divide society even more". Instead, according to the 48-year-old, “we have to advance democratic institutions and organizations”.

However, Chawla is aware that the DGB also has the task of bringing employees and employers together in times of crisis: Because if a company like the copper producer Aurubis no longer existed, “it would be a disadvantage for our colleagues, for the city Overall.” The weakening of the port or the relocation of companies would also be a drama for Hamburg. “The city must benefit from such a strong industrial area. People must have different qualifications and jobs must be preserved,” says Chawla.

The “Alliance for Good Work” launched in 2022, with which the red-green Senate, employers, trade unions and chambers want to improve working conditions in Hamburg, is a start from the point of view of the DGB boss. "We always have to fight to strengthen cohesion," emphasizes Chawla, "this includes taking everyone with us." This is the only way society can achieve social justice.

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