Klaus Ernst (born 1 November 1954 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

German politician and was a leading member of the Labour and Social Justice Party and now The Left. The certified

political economist Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour m ...

has served as a member of The Left in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

since 2005, and as of 2010 has been co-chairing the party together with

Gesine Lötzsch Gesine Lötzsch (; born 7 August 1961) is a German politician of the left-wing party '' Die Linke'' ("The Left"). In 2010, with Klaus Ernst, she was elected president of the party. Biography Born at Berlin-Lichtenberg in what then was East G ...

Career

At the age of 15 he left his home and school because of his violent father. In 1970 he found work as an electronics technician and was elected youth representative and member of the

works council A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...

. In 1972 he became a member of the German Metalworkers' Union and in 1974 he took the chair of regional

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s youth organization in Munich (until 1979) and became a partymember of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

. From 1979 to 1984 he studied political economy at the University of Hamburg. After his studies he became a trade union secretary in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, responsible for organization, educational work and social plans. In 1995 Ernst was elected plenipotentiary of the IG Metall in

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agg ...

. He took objection to the

Agenda 2010 The Agenda 2010 is a series of reforms planned and executed by the German government in the early 2000s, a Social-Democrats/ Greens coalition at that time, which aimed to reform the German welfare system and labour relations. The declared objectiv ...

, which he considered anti-social. Instead he pleaded for the establishment of a political alliance, an electoral alternative with regard to the German federal election in 2005. In the summer of 2004 the party executive decided his expulsion from the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Ernst became chairman of the association "Wahlalternative Arbeit und soziale Gerechtigkeit e. V." which had been founded on 3 July 2004. Later he became leader of the new founded

Electoral Alternative for Labor and Social Justice An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

, which emerged from the association.

Political opinions

In January 2022, he demanded that Ukraine cannot be admitted to NATO. He criticized halting

Nord Stream 2 Nord Stream 2 (German-English mixed expression; german: Nord and en, Stream 2, literally 'North Stream2'; russian: Северный поток — 2) is a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany running through the Baltic Sea, financed by ...

.Reactions from Germany to halt of Nord Stream 2 following Russian aggression
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References

External links

Website of Klaus Ernst

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernst, Klaus 1954 births Living people Politicians from Munich Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative politicians Members of the Bundestag for Bavaria Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag for The Left German trade unionists