SPD on the economy

The SPD wants to make "Gute Arbeit" (decent work) a goal of its own in economic development policy. Public contracts are no longer to go to companies with precarious employment. A catalog of criteria, such as being bound by a collective agreement, is to be drawn up for this.

The SPD wants to promote good working conditions. Companies with insecure, badly paid jobs should not get contracts from the state. The SPD wants to write a list of rules for this. One rule could be that the company pays union-agreed wages.

By decent work, the program means, among other things, employment that is covered by collective agreements, includes worker participation, is fairly paid, and is permanent. A catalog of key criteria such as collective bargaining coverage is to determine when companies can receive public funds and contracts. In service contracts with providers, the public sector is to cover collectively agreed wages and other costs of decent work as standard. The SPD argues that whoever demands compliance with collective agreements must also pay for those wages.

The SPD wants the state to co-finance the Bremen steel plant's move to climate-neutral production. Permits are to be issued quickly, and power and hydrogen connections are to be supported. In the program's view, only green steel has a future.

The steel plant in Bremen should work without coal. The SPD wants the state to give money for this. Permits should come quickly. The plant should get more electricity and hydrogen. The SPD says only clean steel has a future.

According to the program, ArcelorMittal Bremen plans to replace one of its two blast furnaces with a direct reduction plant and an electric arc furnace in the second half of the decade. This is expected to cut CO2 emissions by more than 30 percent by 2030 and by more than 90 percent by the end of the 2030s. The state is to contribute to funding the investments. The program also promises fast review and permit procedures and support for an additional power line to the plant and for a connection to a hydrogen network.

The SPD wants to help Bremen's industry make its production and products climate neutral, using funding and suitable infrastructure. The focus is on Airbus, the Mercedes plant and commercial vehicle maker Faun. The program sees this as the way to keep industry in Bremen.

The SPD wants to help industry in Bremen. Factories and products should no longer harm the climate. The state gives funding and provides lines and land. This is mainly about Airbus, Mercedes and Faun. That way the jobs should stay.

The Airbus site is to be secured and further developed; Bremen could contribute to the hydrogen aircraft planned for 2035, for example with propulsion systems. The SPD wants targeted support for links with space companies and research institutes. For the Mercedes plant, the shift to electric cars is the main issue; new suppliers, contract logistics and vehicle recycling are to find space in the Hansalinie business park. The solar installation at Mercedes, with up to 2.73 megawatts, is called a first step. The program views Faun's plan for hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles as an opportunity for regional suppliers.

The SPD wants to secure Bremen's position as Germany's most important space industry location. Companies are to get help finding skilled workers, and an extension of the ECOMAT research center will be examined. The state intends to lobby for the location in Berlin and Brussels.

Many companies in Bremen work for the space industry. The SPD wants it to stay that way. It wants to help companies find good specialists. It will look into a new building for a research center. Bremen should promote its space industry with the federal government and the EU.

The program stresses that Bremen companies supply components for crewed spaceflight, launch vehicles and satellites and have special expertise in systems integration. An “Ecomat 2” is to be examined because the existing research and technology center is at capacity. Given the importance of national and European funding, Bremen intends to advocate for the sector at the federal and EU levels. Locally, exchange between science, research and industry is to be strengthened.

The SPD wants to support business founders and keep funding start-ups through existing institutions. Service companies are to receive advice on digitalization and better network coverage. The party also wants to strengthen the food and beverage industry.

The SPD wants to help people who start a company. There are places for this, like the Starthaus or the Food Hub. The SPD wants to keep funding them. Service companies should get advice on going digital. Food companies should get help too.

The program names the Creative Hub, Starthaus and Food Hub as support institutions. In the SPD's view, start-ups create jobs and attract young professionals to the state. For service providers, the program sees a public responsibility for innovation advice and for network expansion toward 5G and 6G. The party wants to keep an eye on restaurants and solo self-employed people, who were hit hard by the pandemic. The food industry is described as especially innovative because of new products such as vegan foods and beverages.

The SPD wants to support logistics companies with digitalization, climate-neutral propulsion and securing skilled workers. At the same time, more collective agreements are to apply in the sector and cooperation between employers and unions is to be strengthened. Business parks for suppliers and contract logistics are to be developed further.

Many people in Bremen work in logistics. Logistics means storing and moving goods. The SPD wants to help companies with new technology. More workers should be paid under union wage agreements. Business parks for logistics should grow.

According to the program, just under 12 percent of employees subject to social insurance work in logistics. Small and medium-sized firms in particular are to get help so they can use robotics and automation. The logistics sector dialogues and the logistics competence center are to continue and their results are to be put into practice; the SPD wants to expand research and advisory services in the state. For contract logistics around car, aerospace and steel plants, areas such as Hansalinie and Achim-West are to be developed further.

The SPD wants to develop the tourism strategies of both cities further, step up marketing for the state and make the sector more digital. Major events such as Sail Bremerhaven 2025 are to be supported. The cruise terminal in Bremerhaven is to be expanded and better linked to the city.

The SPD wants to bring more visitors to Bremen and Bremerhaven. It wants more advertising for the state. Big events like Sail 2025 should get support. The port for cruise ships in Bremerhaven should get bigger.

The program describes tourism as a showcase for the state that secures many jobs. According to the SPD, hotels, restaurants, retail and cultural institutions benefit from it. Events with national reach are meant to give the sector a boost. The party wants to speed up the expansion of the cruise terminal and its connection to the city of Bremerhaven.

The SPD wants to support skilled-trades businesses with transformation guides and more advice on financing further training. The program sees the trades as decisive for climate neutrality, especially in buildings. Collective agreements, flexible working hours and dual study programs are meant to make these jobs more attractive.

The skilled trades need many new workers. They install new heating systems, for example. That helps the climate. The SPD wants to advise businesses on how to pay for training. Guides should help businesses with the change. Good pay and flexible hours should make the trades more popular.

According to the program, more than 31,000 people worked in over 5,400 skilled-trades businesses in the state at the end of 2020. In the building sector alone, the SPD expects a need for 5,000 to 6,000 additional skilled workers by 2030. Businesses have to keep training their staff in technology, digitalization and environmental standards; the program places responsibility with them, supplemented by regional support. The party considers new working-time models and family-friendly conditions necessary in the trades as well.

The SPD wants skilled-trade businesses to be able to stay in city neighborhoods and plans to use commercial protection zones for that purpose. New sites are also meant to give the trades room to grow. The platform regards the trades as part of local supply.

The SPD wants craft businesses to stay in the neighborhoods. Special protection zones should help with this. In these zones, businesses cannot be pushed out. The trades should also get new sites.

The platform names suitable business premises as one area of support for the skilled trades. Commercial protection zones are meant to keep businesses from being displaced from neighborhoods. For expansion, the SPD lists the Nußhorn and Reedeich commercial areas and parts of the former Bremer Wollkämmerei site.

The SPD wants to reorganize land policy and make greater use of existing commercial sites rather than keep developing new ones. Disused industrial sites are to be brought back into use, and the state should secure more preemption and repurchase rights. The platform justifies this with the scarcity of land in Germany's smallest state.

Bremen has little free land. So the SPD wants to reuse old industrial sites. The state should be able to buy land back more often. Land for businesses should stay land for businesses. Bremen wants to work with nearby towns.

Value creation and job effects are to count when land is allocated, and reservations of plots are to be time-limited. Commercial plots where nature has spread in the meantime should stay available for business, and restructured commercial areas should not become purely residential. The SPD backs the joint Achim-West commercial area and wants to derive a model agreement for coordinating land use with surrounding municipalities. For Bremerhaven, an intermunicipal commercial area with Geestland is to be examined. After completion of the Weser tunnel, strategic planning for sites on both sides of the river is to follow.

The SPD wants to keep port investment a top priority and continue the ongoing investment and innovation drive. The Bremerhaven container terminal is to be strengthened by tying major shipping lines to the site long term and by adapting the Outer Weser channel. The SPD expects more commitment to seaports from the federal government.

The SPD wants to put a lot of money into the ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven. The container quay in Bremerhaven should be renewed. Big shipping companies should stay for a long time. The federal government should support the ports more.

According to the platform, the decade's largest single project is renewing the container quay in Bremerhaven along with building a new bridge over the Verbindungshafen. The SPD supports the accelerated federal procedure for adapting the Outer Weser and stands by Bremen's stake in the JadeWeserPort. Bremen's ports should receive appropriate weight in the national port strategy. The ports in the city of Bremen are also to be developed further, and a digitalization drive is to pool public and private efforts.

The SPD wants to create a maritime science center in Bremerhaven that brings together research, society, and business. It is also meant to offer affordable space and infrastructure for start-ups coming out of the university and research institutes.

The SPD wants a center for ocean research in Bremerhaven. Researchers and companies should work together there. People who want to start a company after their studies should find cheap space there. This way, knowledge should turn into new jobs.

The center is to involve Bremerhaven's research institutions, players at the interface of research and society, and companies. Existing networks, which often run only between two partners, are to get a new footing this way. In addition, the SPD wants to keep advancing the Integrated Health Campus as a network of health research, care, professions, and business. Cooperation between the private Constructor University and Bremen's research institutions is to be supported, while its funding is to remain purely private.