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IGBCE launches new campaign to keep German pits open

With the sudden jump in energy prices the IGBCE Union, supported by the NRW-based SPD party, has launched a new campaign to save Germany's coal mines.

The RAG-owned Prosper-Haniel colliery in Bottrop

Bottrop (dpa/lnw) -  "Coal is about to make a big comeback - on a scale comparable with that of the shipyards and agriculture", according to SPD regional leader Hannelore Kraft, speaking at a trade union meeting in Bottrop on Wednesday. She expressed the view that a core mining industry was essential for maintaining Germany's energy supplies.

IGBCE regional chief Kurt Hay pointed out that the rescue plan for the financial markets would cost the country 480 billion euros. Just a fraction of this sum would buy permanent security of supply based on coal from German collieries.

The price of imported coal has doubled to between 120 and 130 euros a tonne in a period of one and a half years, though is still below German production costs of around 170 euros a tonne. The difference is made up by billions of euros in subsidy from the Federal and Land Governments. While these payments are being steadily reduced the sums involved are justified, according to Kurt Hay, as an "insurance premium" for stable energy supplies and for the preservation of jobs and technical know-how.

Germany currently has seven operating collieries employing a workforce of some 30,000. The German Bundestag has decided that these mines will gradually be closed by 2018, albeit with the proviso of a review in 2012.

The NRW Regional Government has recently stated that the 2.2 billion euros in subsidy earmarked for German pits in 2009 can now be reduced by 500 million euros because of the rise in coal prices.