ALFRED MARQUART. of citizen's action groups. The DGB, which has almost 7 million members organized in 16 different federations, is a very important factor in German politics, so that its viewpoint on CAG's and on the anti-nuclear power movement is of great significance. The unions base their arguments on the need for assuring economic growth and sufficient jobs through the availability of plenti'- ful sources of energy, and particularly of atomic energy. This is so because the unions are primarily concerned with "the direct, short-term, essentially matetial welfare of the working class". and because their views can be reconciled with the "presently existing social system ".(24) That is why unions representing workers in the atomic sector are the CAG's most vociferous opponents and the most enthusiastic defenders of the federal government's atomic power program. Eugen Loderer, president of the JG Metal!, the powerful metal workers' union, is not only an opponent of the anti-nuclear movement, he also thinks "that these action groups are in danger of becoming imitation political parties lacking in internal democracy, in openness toward the public, or in responsibility to society as a whole".(25) In this same vein, works councils and company management have organized demonstrations in favor of atomic power plant construction together. Employees were given the opportunity to participate during work time and without a loss in wages, declarations and press releases were made saying that anti-nuclear CAG's endangered job security, and it was proclaimed that the unions' prime duty was to fight against this movement since their main goal was to guarantee jobs for all workers. The fact that the trade unions concentrate exclusively on their members' short-term interests (job security, wage increases, etc.) and on their fear of losing their jobs pushes long-term atomic power risks into the background. The trade unions nevertheless say that they are glad citizen's action groups exist, with the above-mentioned restrictions, of course. "Basically it can be said that CAG's increase the possibilities of a democracy. Each individual can participate in the setting of goals without being held back by institutional - (24) H.E. Brandt in Links, socialist paper, 6/77. (25) E. Loderer in Me tall, trade union paper, 7 /77. 16
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