Under the title “Autumn in Solidarity: Creating Social Security – Accelerating the Energy Transition”, the initiators called for targeted help for people with little money Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jorg Carstensen
From BZ/dpa
In view of the energy crisis, hundreds of people demonstrated in Berlin on Saturday for social security and solidarity.
A left-wing alliance of trade unions, environmental groups and social organizations had called for this. Under the title “Solidarity Autumn: Creating social security – accelerating the energy transition”, the initiators are calling for targeted help for people with little money, a redistribution through higher taxes for the rich and at the same time a more consistent energy transition. There were also rallies in other cities, including Frankfurt/Main and Dresden.
In Berlin, the event started at noon in Invalidenpark. The final rally was to take place in the early afternoon at the Brandenburg Gate. Numerous left-wing politicians took part in the protest march, such as Senator for Social Affairs Katja Kipping, Senator for Justice Lena Kreck and Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer.
The police spoke of a “quiet and relaxed” situation and initially estimated the number of participants to be less than 1,800. Information from the organizers was initially not available. Around 20,000 people had expected them in advance. However, this number was not reached, it said. According to a spokeswoman for the Campact network, around 24,000 people took part in the demonstrations nationwide.
In addition to Campact, the alliance also includes the Attac network, the environmental organizations Bund and Greenpeace, the Paritätische Gesamtverband, Volkssolidarität and the citizens’ movement Finanzwende, as well as the trade unions ver.di and GEW.
After the large protests from the right against the Ukraine policy and the high energy prices, the initiators are promoting solidarity. The alliance is sharply demarcated to the right. The organizers declared that they were opposed to division and hate speech.