Protest of the energy industry: 10,000 employees are calling for fair conditions

Before the headquarters of the Federal Network Agency in Bonn, around 10,000 employees of the energy industry gathered to protest against planned changes in controls. The demonstration, organized by the Verdi union, represents the greatest mobilization of the industry in many years. The participants have traveled from different regions of Germany to clear their dissatisfaction with the upcoming new regulations. These should come into force from 2029 and aim to regulate the monopolistic providers more strictly.

The protesters feel unfairly treated by the Federal Network Agency and fear that their working conditions could be deteriorated. The chairman of Verdi, Frank Werneke, emphasized in a speech that the authority was "on the completely wrong lane" because they not only endanger the employees, but also endanger the economic foundations of the industry.

Changes in the incentive regulation

A central point of dispute is the planned change in incentive regulation, which is intended to ensure that energy network operators work costly. However, certain costs, such as the additional wage costs, are currently not taken into account in the efficiency comparison. In the future, these costs will be part of the calculations, which increases the fears of the employees that increased competition for wage costs could lead to deterioration.

The trade union arguments emphasize that the new regulation intervenes in the tariff autonomy and could endanger the competitiveness of the industry. In contrast, the Federal Network Agency argues that the network operators could continue to offer attractive working conditions in order to meet the increasing requirements.

Protection of consumers

Another concern of the Federal Network Agency is not to further heat the rising energy prices through high network costs. In a letter to works councils, network chief Klaus Müller made it clear that cost factors that the network operators cannot influence should remain outside in the future. The aim is to protect households and other users who have no choice with their network operator.