As of: January 25, 2024, 5:10 p.m
By: Cornelia Schramm
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Federal Minister of Economics and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) on the phone.
© Hannibal Hanschke/Getty
The metalworker Klaus Harbeck from Passau received a call from Vice Chancellor Habeck after a protest.
Tettenweis – For Klaus Harbeck and his wife Gabriele it is an incredible 15 minutes.
On Tuesday evening her phone rings.
On the other end of the receiver: the Vice-Chancellor.
“This is Habeck speaking,” says Robert Habeck (Greens).
Klaus Harbeck and his wife welcome the Federal Minister of Economics - and start with their criticism.
Because the beautiful word game that arises from the two conversation partners Habeck and Harbeck is not the reason for the phone call - even if it also amuses the Vice-Chancellor.
“We explained to Mr. Habeck on the phone what is currently driving those who hit the iron with a hammer,” says Klaus Harbeck, who runs a metal construction company in Tettenweis in the Passau district.
Last Friday, the metalworker and his entire company stopped work for ten minutes.
Out of protest.
And as a call for a “better and, above all, plannable economic and location policy in Germany”.
The federal and state trade associations of German crafts initiated the “Time to Make” campaign.
Passau: Metallbauer receives a call from the Chancellery after the protest
The specific demands of Harbeck Metallbau GmbH: upgrading and promoting apprenticeships, affordable energy, reducing bureaucracy and reducing additional wage costs.
The points that Klaus Harbeck listed to the Federal Minister of Economics four days later on the telephone must have sounded something like this.
He no longer knows exactly.
It wasn't about details at all, he says.
“We simply wanted to convey to Mr. Habeck that the population’s trust in the government is dwindling, frustration is increasing and that there is so much pressure on the craft businesses that they are now getting together.”
With hammer and anvil: Klaus and Gabriele Harbeck run a metal construction and plumbing business in the Passau district.
© Private
The Harbeck couple would never have dreamed that their participation in the protest would cause such waves that they would actually get the Vice Chancellor on the line.
“That was unbelievable,” says Harbeck – and admits: “Mr. Habeck made a positive, open impression on us during the conversation.
He listened carefully to us, thanked us and also promised that he would get in touch with our guild and the Central Association of German Crafts.” Klaus Harbeck has already forwarded the necessary telephone numbers to Robert Habeck.
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And what's next for the metalworker?
“We are not political scientists, we cannot give advice,” says Harbeck and, after the national media hype surrounding his protest and its consequences, he now wants to take care of his business.
“We had the impression that Mr. Habeck was surprised by a lot of what we told him.
So we hope that he keeps his promise and that something changes.”
(sco)