German Metal Workers Leader Warns Against Deindustrialization

Chairman of the German Metal Workers Union Jörg Hofmann warned against the loss of national competence in industrial manufacturing. In an April 30 interview with Bild am Sonntag he said that the sale of the heat pump manufacturer Viessmann to the United States shows the risk of the state promoting technologies “without a sufficient industrial basis in Europe.” Then there is a threat of migration to “where the big players are already global.… There is a real danger that Germany will turn from being a driver of innovation to becoming the workbench of the world.”