Louis Klamroth invites you to the ARD talk on "Hart aber fair" on Monday evening on the subject of the general strike.
Emotional battles ensue.
Cologne – “The big day of the strike – fair or dangerous for the economy?” asks Louis Klamroth in “Hart but fair” on Monday evening in the
ARD
talk.
But while there was no chaos on the streets in most German cities, the talk evening turned out to be a bit chaotic.
All against all, all mixed up.
The audience sometimes has a hard time understanding anything at all.
Above all, the ARD stock exchange expert Anja Kohl and the left boss Janine Wissler torpedo every spark of burgeoning culture of conversation.
Constant interruptions and miserably long speeches in parallel flight, so that in the end you don't understand much.
Keeping track of the evening's content becomes a Sisyphean task at times.
"Hard but fair": These guests discussed with Louis Klamroth
Frank Groom
(ARD legal expert)
Gitta Connemann
(CDU, Federal Chairwoman of the MIT SME and Economic Union)
Anja Kohl
(journalist, ARD)
Marie-Christine Ostermann
(entrepreneur)
Julia Riemer
(striking tram driver)
Janine Wissler
(Party leader Die Linke)
"The strike was legal," says journalist Anja Kohl and then explains the reasons.
After official inflation of 8.7 percent, workers have had to accept real income losses over the past three years.
A number is almost lost, which moderator Klamroth lets play: As a result, groceries have increased in price by a further 21 percent over the past year at an already high price level.
This makes it clear: the official figures do not reflect the true extent of currency devaluation.
Wissler recalls that the board of directors of Deutsche Bahn "just now increased their salaries by 14 percent".
"But twelve percent more for the employees, that's supposed to be too much," she says.
The demand is therefore "not exaggerated, that is completely justified."
"Hard but fair" - entrepreneur shakes her head about her own employees
Entrepreneur Marie-Christine Ostermann, on the other hand, calls on the employees to also think about the well-being of the employer: “We finally need exercise, we want to look forward to the future, we want to earn money again.” She shakes her head at her own employees: “The are now demanding a wage plus of 13 percent!” She is beside herself.
Nobody can pay for that.
The audience is torn.
There is applause for both sides, even if listening to this "hard but fair" show is difficult because everyone is talking at once.
In addition,
ARD
moderator Klamroth often interrupts at the wrong moment.
Anja Kohl volleys such glitches and simply repeats everything that has already been said.
Again and again the women interrupt each other at the table: “Can I make the point now.
Now it's my turn.
May I please finish talking?” Result: In the end nobody is allowed to.
Tram driver Julia Riemer recalls the Corona period in "Hart aber Fair".
"It's no longer enough to stand on the balcony and gossip," she says, reporting on the tough working conditions in local transport.
If the wages are not right, the lack of workers is no wonder.
Meanwhile, Gitta Connemann warns of a wage-price spiral.
The MIT chair finds it excessive that a general strike was instigated at such an early stage, “because it is directed against uninvolved third parties, other workers, patients, families who also need relief.
The question is: am I taking an entire country hostage?” Furthermore, the strikers would be making a mistake.
"In the end, the biggest beneficiary of inflation is the state." That's why it's time for clear government measures: "Taxes down,
The women clash until the stock market expert sulks
"No one wants to abolish strikes, including me," says Connemann.
However, she calls for a notice period for strikes in critical areas so that public life does not come to a standstill.
Also legally required emergency services for critical infrastructure.
Klamroth names the Hamburg Elbe tunnel, which also had to be maintained by court order on the Monday of the strike.
And Connemann adds: It is important to have a binding arbitration procedure beforehand.
"The strike must be the last resort, not the first." Kohl countered harshly: "Well, we've now heard the CDU election program..." It's a "fog discussion".
She would rather talk about the financial situation.
When moderator Klamroth interrupts her and Connemann starts again, she's finally had enough.
“What speaks against an arbitration procedure?” Connemann wants to know.
But Kohl is now sulking: "I'm not having this discussion."
The talk evening at "Hart aber fair" threatens to derail, and Klamroth turns away in resignation: "I thought it would be easier with five women in the group today."
Conclusion of the "hard but fair" talk
Despite the explosiveness of the topic, the Monday talk was hard to bear at times.
There was too much confusion without moderator Louis Klamroth getting a clear red line into the discussion.
He also often interrupted his guests when it was least convenient.
(Michael Goermann)
