Quelle: picture alliance/imageBROKER
26 October 2022: 9th Workers' Voice Breakfast
Turning point: Reshaping Europe's (defence) industry
A just transition of our economy is on the top of the agenda of the European workers’ movement and rightly so. But a just transition also needs a smart transformation of our business models, our global supply chains as well as local competences to bring about better solutions which are urgently needed. This is where knowledge and experience of workers’ representatives are not yet systematically included into decision-making. More democracy at work is an essential part to be strengthened in a new architecture of the European democracy.
Currently we are experiencing several changes which we would have never expected a year ago: Old geo-political conflicts flare up leading to massive economic disruptions due to the high interdependencies of global value chains. What is more, the approach to defense policy on European and national level has radically changed, as we see that many years of peace in Europe may end.
We also still face climate change which we need to fight against and to adapt to. The transformation of the economy has already started, but it will be a great feat to actually achieve the goal of a sustainable society and economy. Some industrial sectors need to change their business model fundamentally to continue to compete in the market. Some workers will need to retrain to be employable. Last but not least, due to the high energy dependency on (Russian) gas in many households and the industry, the effort to expand renewable energy resources has increased.