海角大神

Chanting through masks: Cosima Steltner on German labor activism

We gathered on the other side of the Rhine from the statehouse here.

It was a cold 鈥� German-winter-cold 鈥� October day. I stood with three friends in a square, taped off with plastic ribbon.

Normally labor demonstrations are jammed with people, arms waving, voices singing. It鈥檚 like a concert. We need to show employers we have strength with our numbers. We can also have fun: Barbecues in the union house, chanting; we all go for drinks afterward.

But it was corona times: Faces were hidden behind masks, bodies covered in winter clothing. Three thousand of us, standing in cordoned-off squares 6 meters apart. You hear chanting, but you don鈥檛 see mouths move. We can鈥檛 tell who鈥檚 speaking.

The steelworkers came in buses. The most famous strikes in German history have been in the steel industry. For white-collar workers, it鈥檚 normal to switch jobs every five to 10 years. But for blue-collar workers, especially in steel, many workers鈥� parents and grandparents and even great-grandparents worked at the same company.

Steel work is very special. It鈥檚 a lifetime job, a lifetime connection. The stakes are higher for steelworkers, and the industry is going through dramatic change. They were placed at the front of the crowd, near the stage.聽 聽

I鈥檓 not a steelworker. I work full time in compliance at Thyssenkrupp, a German steel and industrial engineering multinational. But I was elected to the labor union inside the company at 17, and now I鈥檓 also a volunteer organizer.

I spend hours a week on this labor organizing, unpaid. It鈥檚 become my life鈥檚 passion.

I don鈥檛 know why. I know I have privilege growing up in a part of Essen that wasn鈥檛 the richest but also wasn鈥檛 the poorest: My parents are architects, and we took holidays in a camper van.

Maybe it鈥檚 because I鈥檓 empathetic. I cry a lot. When I see couples getting married on TV, I feel their good fortune. When a child doesn鈥檛 have the money for art supplies for school, I feel bad. Germany is a rich country and it doesn鈥檛 have to be like this. I fight for people who don鈥檛 like to talk, or don鈥檛 have a voice in the labor force. There鈥檚 so much to fight for.

This was a Kundgebung, a rally. There were speeches, singing, funny posters. One communist party group was also there passing out flyers, just five people standing around with trumpets spitting aerosols everywhere while we all were trying to stay safe!

The steelworkers have gone through a lot the past few years. Everyone wants job security, but the future is uncertain with the transition to 鈥済reen steel.鈥� At this rally, the steelworkers were asking state government to buy shares in our company.

In 2018, we did a 24-hour strike, with workers in nearly every city in Germany participating. We had to be able to show we can strike. The damage to the metal and electrical industry was 鈧�1 billion ($1.2 billion), but we had to be able to show we can and will strike.聽

My biggest pride as a labor organizer came back in 2017 when we struck a collective agreement for fair hours and wages for student apprentices of Thyssenkrupp.聽In Germany, more than聽100,000 young people enter the program each year,聽and it鈥檚 the main workforce entry point for many Germans. But we aren鈥檛 protected by most labor laws; you could work three to four years and still get only minimum wage. This is crazy.

I was part of the working group that won that landmark agreement. I鈥檓 asked about it all the time. Just two hours ago, an organizer from Hannover called me to ask about a rule in the agreement.

As a teenager, I became an accidental union rep. I was recruited to run, and I won election against the man who founded the youth representative council in my company. It didn鈥檛 feel right. I cried in bed; I really struggled. Should I decline the role?

But my mom told me, 鈥淧eople voted for you. They placed their trust in you. You can鈥檛 just walk away.鈥�

That was pivotal.

The union is a big part of my life now. I just started a labor studies master鈥檚 program 鈥� getting accepted was one of the pandemic鈥檚 happiest moments for me. Parents and friends warned me the degree will brand me 鈥渦ntouchable鈥� with 鈥渘ormal鈥� employers.

And, I get it. 鈥淣ormal鈥� companies will know I鈥檝e spent years fighting for employee rights. But I have to do it. Studies will give me context for my labor work. Take the four-day workweek. I never want to be the person who simply says, 鈥淥K, a four-day week to save jobs.鈥� I want to know everything: How can we make it work? What will Labor 4.0 look like? What are long-term changes in industry?

Union work lives on personal contact. And the pandemic killed so many plans we had for 2020. Meetings, rallies, conferences.

At this October rally, the mood wasn鈥檛 the same as usual. No chance interactions with people you don鈥檛 know, no scrambling across crowds to say hello to friends. I鈥檓 sure friends came I didn鈥檛 even recognize in masks.

Still, it was uplifting because 鈥� in spite of the cold, the pandemic, and only 3,000 attendants 鈥� people still cared to come. It鈥檚 about jobs and lives. Even friends who work in auto joined. That鈥檚 what these demonstrations bring out: the solidarity. That鈥檚 why I鈥檒l always be on the streets.

And that鈥檚 where I hope to be in the coming spring. In our new round of negotiations, we plan demonstrations in 155 cities across Germany.

Read other personal essays like Cosima鈥檚 from 21-year-olds in our聽21 in 鈥�21 global report about a generation coming of age in the pandemic.