"We must now show our colors"

At the meeting of the North Rhine-Westphalia Crafts Council, President Andreas Ehlert emphasized the responsibility of the skilled trades in political discourse. He stated that they must clearly communicate their positions and send clear messages to politicians.

The skilled trades sector in North Rhine-Westphalia looks back on a politically eventful year. The newly elected [government/government] Federal government "It has not yet been able to fulfill the hopes placed in it," said Andreas Ehlert at this year's meeting of the Crafts Council. "We are in a similar crisis situation to the one we had with the traffic light coalition," said the president of Crafts.NRWThis also involves serious economic and social policy issues. The government's responses to these have been insufficient so far. "Overall, the political center is losing the trust of the people in this country at a rapid and alarming pace."

Ultimately, this threatens to become a problem for democracy. The skilled trades also bear a special responsibility here. "We, too, must now take a stand and not just treat everything superficially through consensus. We must clearly state our positions, what we stand for, and what we are demanding politically," emphasized Ehlert. The clear message from the skilled trades is: "Our country needs real, structural reforms now. We need real answers to real problems." Instead, politicians are currently resorting to superficial solutions.

Trades criticize industrial electricity price

Ehlert criticized the industrial electricity price decided upon by the government. He argued that it was wrong to provide subsidies only for large corporations, but not for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and consumers. He asserted that one cannot simply treat the symptoms without addressing the root causes. More action is also needed in climate protection. Set targets must be implemented, and this requires a realistic and robust strategy. The urgently needed infrastructure investments via the special fund are in danger of being wasted because they are often used to finance measures planned through the core budget rather than additional projects. Furthermore, the social security systems are in dire need of reform, with ever-increasing non-wage labor costs. "We cannot stand idly by while social security contributions continue to rise at the expense of businesses and our employees," he said.

At the state level, the skilled trades have achieved many important successes – these include the master craftsman bonus, the simplified building permit authorization, and the Modernization Pact 2.0. Ehlert: "These were all important signals for skilled trades policy, and we can be grateful for them. But there are also wrong decisions that we simply cannot accept." The property tax reform in North Rhine-Westphalia has... State government The abandonment of the principle of awarding contracts to specific trades and partial lots in the municipal code is "completely botched" and also not in the interest of the skilled trades. Furthermore, the planned law on safeguarding collectively bargained wages, as it currently stands, not only creates more bureaucracy but also incentivizes trade associations to discourage adherence to collective bargaining agreements.

Possibilities of artificial intelligence

In addition to economic policy issues, the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts and Trades (DGzRS) addressed the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) for the skilled trades. Karl-Heinz Land, owner of "neuland.ai," gave a keynote speech on the topic. He stated that the AI ​​transformation has the potential to generate a production increase of around 500 billion euros, thus leading to a new economic miracle for Germany. The skilled trades could also participate in this value creation. AI could support "dozens, if not hundreds" of applications in this sector: customer service, warehouse management, data analysis, human resources, finance, document management and processing, maintenance, expense management, and logistics. Germany could become a leading player in the field of AI, because the knowledge possessed by businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a vast treasure trove. "If we can harness this treasure for AI and make it usable, then we have a good chance," Land said.

In conclusion, the state, the two members of the state parliament and chairs of the NRW state parliament's inquiry commission "Artificial Intelligence: For a Smart State in a Digitalized Society," Björn Franken (CDU) and Franziska Müller-Rech (FDP), and Dr. Jens Prager, Managing Director of the East Westphalia-Lippe Chamber of Skilled Crafts in Bielefeld, discussed the advantages of AI. They noted that it offers significant potential for reducing administrative burdens – both for the government, the skilled crafts sector, and private companies. "Artificial intelligence can help our businesses make administrative processes faster and more efficient – ​​from preparing quotes to ordering materials," explained Andreas Ehlert. "However, it will not replace actual craftsmanship. Skilled crafts are and will remain future-proof."

Board electionsAndreas Ehlert remains president of Handwerk.NRW. The Crafts Council confirmed the master chimney sweep and president of the Chamber of Crafts Düsseldorf for another three years in office. The two vice presidents were also re-elected. Rüdiger Otto (President of the NRW Crafts Entrepreneurs' Association and the Construction associations NRW) and Berthold Schröder (President of the West German Chamber of Crafts and the Dortmund Chamber of Crafts).

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