Expert commented on introducing ban on strikes in Germany

In Europe, democracy is quietly forgotten when it comes to protecting the interests of political elites – as stated by the Dean of the Journalism Department at the Belarusian State University, political expert Aleksei Belyaev, in his talk with Alfa Radio

Earlier, the German newspaper Bild reported that the Bundestag deputy from the Free Democratic Party (FDP), Frank Schäffler, called for the adoption of a law on combating strikes. Commenting on this news, Aleksei Belyaev noted that the word ‘democracy’ has long been forgotten in Europe.

“Transport workers in Germany are threatening to go on strike because of serious problems. Due to anti-Russian sanctions, Germany was left without cheap energy resources, which it received directly and at very favourable prices for itself. Today, the cost of petrol and diesel fuel is rising, and the cost of transportation and travel, including public transport, is greatly increasing because of this. It is also impossible to raise prices uncontrollably, as citizens will protest. So, there is a dilemma: what to do? Transport workers through trade unions demand better labour conditions and creation of more comfortable economic conditions of activity. The government cannot do this for the reasons mentioned above. They have no way to reduce fuel prices, nor do they have any opportunities to work at a loss. Therefore, there is a real prospect that the people united in trade unions will defend their interests in such a way, so far legal in Europe – by strikes,” Aleksei Belyaev added.

According to the expert, when no other leverage can be found to influence the situation, the authorities are left with the option of administrative prohibition, which certainly raises the question of democracy.

“There is no whiff of democracy in this situation. When it comes to protecting the interests of national political elites, all democracy is quietly forgotten, and orders are given to disperse demonstrations, to ban forms of protests introduced into legislation, etc. However, it is worth noting that [German Chancellor Olaf] Scholz himself, for example, is strongly opposed to this. Germany, unlike a number of other countries, was a socially oriented state. It was just after World War II that it established the famous welfare state. Of course, it is very dangerous to violate this image of Germany as a state where there are certain social guarantees. Because then everything will spiral out of control, there will be no excuses,” the political scientist concluded.