Renewable Energy | »Breaking out of the state of shock«

Photo: Santiago Rodriguez You were active in the climate movement for several years. How did you get involved?

Photo: Santiago Rodriguez In 2019, I was really excited to be able to take my future into my own hands for the first time at Fridays for Future. The climate crisis has worsened massively and yet little has happened for a long time. Breaking out of this paralysis was liberating. Now I want us, as wind power workers, to break out of our state of shock!

There are now complaints that the climate movement was quickly over. What reasons do you see for the decline in the movement?

A few years ago, millions were united by concern about the impending climate crisis and hope for strong climate policy measures. Today we see that economic issues and geopolitical crises are a higher and more acute priority for many. If climate policy wants to be successful in the long term, it must be more firmly anchored in these concerns. With “Aktion Wind” we want to help combine class politics with the fight against the climate crisis. 

Pawel Bechtold, 23 years old, is an electronics trainee at a large company that produces wind turbines. He is involved in the Wind campaign against the energy policy of the Federal Ministry of Economics. An ongoing petition for greater expansion of wind energy has so far collected over 7,000 signatures.

You work as a trainee in a company in the wind energy industry. Was this career choice a consequence of your climate policy commitment?

Of course, being able to make a greater positive contribution as an electronics technician on a wind turbine than in a coal-fired power plant played a role. And it was a good fit that I wanted to learn more about electricity, found working on wind turbines exciting and think that it is a job with a future. Even if it's getting a little cloudy right now.

What role does the question of career choice actually play for climate activists?

In my experience, the fact that we are in the middle of the climate crisis plays a major role. None of my old comrades-in-arms want to work in road construction. Many people decide to do something with politics and want to change the world. But I believe that for positive change we have to go where we get our hands dirty sometimes.

In the professions that are known in English as “blue collar,” frustration is often great. In my opinion, because in companies decisions are often made over the people. Because society sometimes develops differently than they think it should. This gives rise to the feeling that “those up there”, such as bosses or politicians, do what they want anyway. And this frustration is then channeled to the right by the AfD, even though the AfD's policy wants to abolish co-determination in companies. As leftists, we must not leave the companies to the right!

You are involved in “Aktion Wind”. What is it about?

First and foremost, it's about showing an economics minister who is doing everything to destroy the renewable energy industry that we as employees will not stand idly by and will defend ourselves. Our goal is also to initiate unionization in the industry, because this is the only way we can have secure, good work in the long term. “Aktion Wind” is a campaign that advocates for our working conditions and therefore also for climate protection through renewables. It takes us and our labor to produce energy that doesn't burn our future.

Is this a continuation of your commitment as a climate activist?

For me it is a combination of three topics that are very close to my heart. On the one hand, of course, climate justice, on the other hand, wind power and then also the formation of strong and combative unions. I joined IG Metall right at the start of my training and am also active in the youth organization there. With “Aktion Wind” as a union pro-climate campaign in wind energy, everything came together perfectly.

With the “Wind Campaign” they are collecting signatures for a petition to the federal government to expand the expansion of wind energy instead of restricting it. Were you satisfied with your colleagues’ reaction to the petition?

Yes, because almost everyone thinks it's a good thing that something is finally happening about this impending catastrophe. Everyone in my training year signed. Even those with whom I don't always agree during the break. The fact that we stand together on this issue that affects us all has given me a lot of strength. More and more of us are realizing that we now have to take action ourselves, network across companies and stand up for ourselves and our colleagues. Some people are doing this for the very first time in their lives, and it always makes my heart swell.

What happens next with “Aktion Wind” after the petition has been submitted?

Now it's all about preventing Reich's failure and thus the migration of industry from Germany, and then we'll see what happens together. We will definitely continue to work on networking and organizing so that we are able to act if our industry is attacked again.

What significance will the campaign have in IG Metall in the future?

You have to ask IG Metall that. (laughs) Hopefully a high one! I know that the organization of wind farms there is thinking long-term and making it a focus. It is also exciting to see how other unions behave, because IG BCE and Verdi are also responsible for wind companies according to the DGB division. We are already supporting the unions in opening up an industry that was previously considered difficult to organize, and we will not stop there. “Aktion Wind” shows that many have been waiting for this organization. So this is just the beginning.

They have an ideal opponent in Federal Economics Minister Katharina Reiche, who is favorable to the fossil fuel economy. What other goals do you have for the near future?

There is currently a massive problem in the North Sea, where the oil companies BP and Total have secured huge areas for the construction of offshore wind farms. And now they are using pretextual arguments to oppose the expansion. This is not only catastrophic for our climate goals, but also for thousands of industrial jobs in Germany. It is clear that the space must be allocated as quickly as possible to companies that actually want to expand offshore wind power instead of slowing it down. Otherwise, factories risk going under in the order drought.

I will first concentrate on the intermediate exam of my training in March.

What plans do you have after your training ends?

I would like to continue working on wind turbines and thus secure our electricity supply at good prices. Even when it has long been taken for granted that we only generate our energy from renewable sources and our children can no longer understand why we used to send so much money abroad for oil and gas. Why we used to think we had to destroy the planet to generate electricity. And of course I want to continue to ensure that we do all of this in good jobs and with good working conditions.

This article cost you nothing. Us: research, production and technology. We saved on office rent as well as printing and distribution. And we gave up salary. Nevertheless, the calculation doesn't work without you. We need 300,000 euros by the end of the year. You pay what you can, in return we keep writing.

No paywall, no small print, just one goal: that nd stays.