The IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie (IG BCE) is a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is one of eight industrial affiliations of the

German Confederation of Trade Unions The German Trade Union Confederation (; DGB) is an umbrella organisation (sometimes known as a national trade union center) for eight German trade unions, in total representing more than 6 million people (31 December 2011). It was founded ...

(DGB).

History and structure

The IG BCE was created in 1997 from the merger of the

Chemical, Paper and Ceramic Union The Chemical, Paper and Ceramic Union () was a trade union representing chemical, oil refinery, paper, rubber, ceramics, glass and plastics workers in West Germany. While the Factory Workers' Union of Germany, dissolved by the Nazis in 1933, was s ...

Leather Union The Leather Union (, GL) was a West German trade union representing workers in shoemaking, tanning, saddlery, and other work related to leather. The union was founded in 1949 and affiliated to the German Trade Union Confederation. The union was st ...

, and

Union of Mining and Energy The Union of Mining and Energy (, IGBE) was a trade union in West Germany which existed from 1946 until 1997. History In the early 20th-century, there were several miners' unions in Germany, the most important being the Union of Miners of Germany. ...

. It covers workers in the following industries: mining (especially of coal), chemicals, natural gas, glass, rubber, ceramics, plastics, leather, petrol (and related products), paper, recycling, and water. With some 645,000 members (as of 2016) IG BCE represents about one tenth of all DGB members and is the third biggest union within that confederation. There are some 1,100 locals and 900 groups of shop stewards organized in 42 regional districts, which cooperate in eight state chapters: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse/Thuringia, North, Northeast, North Rhine, Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland and Westphalia. In 2015, IG BCE successfully negotiated a pay rise for 550,0000 employees with Germany's chemical employers association BAVC.

Political positions

IG BCE has been playing a key role in Germany's

energy transition An energy transition (or energy system transformation) is a major structural change to energy supply and consumption in an energy system. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. Most of the sustainab ...

. In 2014, the union proposed that Germany's utilities should pool their struggling hard coal plants into a joint entity, referring to the hard coal plants with total capacity of between 28 and 30 gigawatts (GW), most of which are owned by

E.ON E.ON SE is a European multinational electric utility company based in Essen, Germany. It operates as one of the world's largest investor-owned electric utility service providers. The name originates from the Latin word '' aeon'', derived from ...

RWE RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. In July 2020, RWE completed a far-reaching asset swap deal with E.ON first ...

EnBW EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, or simply EnBW, is a publicly-traded energy industry, energy company headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany. History Foundation and development EnBW came into existence on 1 January 1997 as a result of the merge ...

Vattenfall Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational corporation, multinational electrical power industry, power company owned by the List of government enterprises of Sweden, Swedish state. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germa ...

and STEAG. By 2015, the union proposed gradually phasing out old

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...

s and building

combined heat and power Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to electricity generation, generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise ...

(CHP) stations fired with gas. Its plan included taking at least 2.7 gigawatts of

brown coal Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, Combustion, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered ...

-fired capacity gradually out of the market rather than risking sudden closures. On the initiative of IG BCE, thousands of coal miners and workers in coal-fired plants marched in Berlin in April 2015 to protest a proposed levy on the oldest, most polluting power stations, saying it could lead to losses of up to 100,000 jobs and the decline of the industry in Germany. In 2016, IG BCE, with the support of the BDI industry group, again raised concerns about plans for Germany to end its use of brown coal amid calls for it to set out a timetable for ending coal-fired power production.Markus Wacket (November 11, 2016)
Germany cuts CO2 targets for industry ahead of Morocco talks
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''.

Presidents

:1997: Hubertus Schmoldt :2009:

Michael Vassiliadis Michael Zissis Vassiliadis (born 13 March 1964) is President of the Mining, Chemical and Energy Workers' Union ( IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie, IG BCE) in Germany and President of the European Confederation of Industrial Trade Unions IndustriAll Eur ...

Notable members

Barbara Hendricks Barbara Hendricks (born November 20, 1948) is an American lyric soprano and humanitarian. Born in Arkansas, Hendricks studied chemistry and mathematics at the University of Nebraska before becoming a singer. She gained acclaim for her operatic r ...

– former Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety * Ulla Schmidt – former Federal Minister of Health *

Martin Schulz Martin Schulz (born 20 December 1955) is a German politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany from 1994 to 2017 and a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) from 2017 to 2021. During his tenure he was Leader of the Progress ...

– former

President of the European Parliament The president of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. They also represent the Parliament within the European Union (EU) and internationally. The president's signature is required for Euro ...

Peer Steinbrück Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the Chancellor-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election. Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

– former

Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia The Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia (), also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head of government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (''NRW''). The position was created in 1946, when the British administr ...

References

Citations

Sources

External links

IG BCE English site
{{Authority control 1997 establishments in Germany German Trade Union Confederation Chemical industry trade unions Energy industry in Germany Energy industry trade unions Mining trade unions Trade unions established in 1997