Economic Fears Spawn Strikes in E. Germany

A wave of warning strikes swept through East Germany on Thursday as public concern mounted over the economic consequences of unification.

Farmers created traffic chaos by blocking major autobahn and highway border crossings to West Germany and Poland, while in East Berlin, angry teachers shouted down a government minister who tried to address them in front of the East German Parliament.

Textile and leather workers held token, hourlong strikes in several major cities.

The common thread through all the protests was a fear that a fast-unraveling East German economy would be swamped when it is joined with that of rich, powerful West Germany.

Many East Germans worry that a quick plunge into the free market system will lead to runaway inflation, unemployment and loss of social benefits such as free day-care.

The West German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur estimated that 10,000 took part in the protests.

The strikes came as negotiations between the two Germanys on a state treaty that would create an economic, currency and social union entered their final stages.

Although the treaty, seen as the cornerstone of reunification, will give East Germans the much-wanted West German deutschemark in place of their own, hopelessly overvalued ostmark, the move is fraught with short-term uncertainty.

According to the East German government’s own estimates, about 15% of the country’s state-owned corporations face imminent bankruptcy with the onset of the market economy, while more than half are expected to require significant government financial assistance for restructuring.

In a country where over-staffing for years precluded unemployment, serious voices now predict that from 1 million to 3 million of East Germany’s 16 million people will become jobless. Figures released Thursday projected that East German unemployment could reach half a million by summer--about nine times the current rate.

“We stand before one of the worst economic crises we’ve ever had,” East German Prime Minister Lothar de Maiziere told a parliamentary session debating the state treaty.

West Germany is expected to pump billions of dollars into East Germany to revive obsolete industry, clear up pollution and introduce new technology. Few, however, disagree that the transition period will be difficult.

An angry group of about 2,000 teachers, some carrying signs with the words “betrayal” and “treason,” gathered in front of the Parliament building protesting the proposed abolition of many socialist benefits, reportedly agreed to as part of a state treaty.

Education Minister Hans-Joachim Meyer was whistled at and heckled as he attempted to address the protesters.

Teachers, many of whom are still strong Communist supporters, also demanded higher wages to make up for the rise in prices that is thought to be inevitable once East Germany’s liberal system of subsidies is dismantled.

Along East German border points, farmers, too, protested for protection.

The resulting chaos was reportedly much aggravated by the East German highway police who, being completely unaccustomed to such demonstrations, appeared uncertain how to handle the protests.

Production costs on East German collective farms are roughly three times those in West Germany, and the quality of the products is inferior.

“Between half and three-quarters of the entire (East German) agricultural sector is in danger,” said Horst Lambrecht, an agriculture specialist at the Germany Economic Institute in West Berlin.

Textile and leather industry workers in Dresden and Leipzig demanded greater protection and improved employment conditions. These weak, over-staffed and obsolete sectors of the East German economy face tough conditions on unification with West Germany, Europe’s most efficient industrial state.

Although East Germans tend to be optimistic about life in a united Germany, a growing uncertainty and worry cloud their short-term outlook.

For a people who always reconciled themselves to their second-class life style with the comforting thought that it at least provided security, the prospect of mass unemployment is proving especially difficult to face.

The protests in the East came as West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl pushed East Germany to accept sweeping economic reforms. Kohl said during a parliamentary address in Bonn that both governments have agreed in principle to terms of the monetary union but that the details are still being negotiated.

“Striking a balance between social achievements on one side and economic efficiency on the other is a central question,” Kohl said.

He expressed confidence that the two countries would meet the July 1 goal for the state treaty, adding that East Germans “want to see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.”

To meet that deadline, basic agreement must be reached in the next week, he said.

Kohl hinted that an East German rejection of the currency union could endanger the whole package.

“It is obvious to me that the currency exchange is insolubly bound to an overall agreement on the state treaty,” he said.

Said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, “It’s been a package deal all along and the East Germans know that.

“A currency union without the other conditions of economic reform would be useless,” the official added, because the powerful deutschemark would be “swallowed up” with no return on the investment.

In addition to pressure to keep many of the liberal, but costly social benefits, the East German government is under considerable public pressure to protect property from being snapped up by affluent West Germans.

Kohl also sought to assuage West German fears that unification will lead to a tax increase and a lower standard of living. He called for “courage, imagination and readiness” on the part of all Germans, adding:

“Then we will conquer the difficulties and the chances that come with German unity can unfold for the benefit of all people.”

Marshall reported from East Berlin and Jones reported from Bonn.