Trade unionists strangled by anti-AfD protest (new-deutschland.de)

The clash among trade unionists in the Main-Kinzig district continues to be deep. A record of an event organized by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) against an AfD event was strangled Friday in Hanau by two men with loss of consciousness. The authors would be supporters of the right-wing party.

Tobias Huth, trade union secretary of the DGB Südhessen and co-organizer of the demonstration in Hanau, was surprised by the incident. He could not say for sure if they were members of the AfD. But since both men were later seen at the Afd event, Huth was sure that they are at least party supporters.

The 43-year-old record and the active business committee in the Main-Kinzig district had after the attack Commotion for medical treatment at the hospital. The portal Osthessen News reports that the worst could only be avoided by the intervention of the spectators.

"This attack is the result of AfD's polarizing policy," says Ulrike Eifler, regional director of the DGB. Eifler himself was severely attacked by the AfD with verbal allegations in the run-up to the protests.

According to Eifler, one of the alleged perpetrators harbaded her during the rally in front of the cultural hall in Hanau Steinheim, but was asked by the record to join remove, followed. He stayed with a second person on the rally, badisted by about 400 people. When the 43 year old turned their backs on them, the two men would have attacked him.

In their joint statement, trade unionists are outraged by such an attack. Berthold Leinweber, managing director of the ver.di district of Main-Kinzig-Osthessen, demanded constant prosecution. "It was an open attack against one of our colleagues.The perpetrators are known.We expect the investigating authorities that they provide a quick explanation.The two men must be translated into justice. "

This is by no means the first time that trade unionists from the Main-Kinzig district are involved. In recent months, several threatening letters have been received at the local DGB office. "Thanks for the signatures, because at least we know first of all who we put in the labor camp," says one of the letters "nd", for example. To this end, NSU's right-wing terrorism has been downplayed.

Even in direct contact with the AfD, there had already been incidents before the demonstration in Hanau. The right-wing populist party has attempted to portray trade unionists as violent political offenders. The occasion was another demonstration of the DGB in Hanau on July 16th. On the signs, the party had organized various events in Hamburg at the G20 summit or in Frankfurt am Main against protests against the European Central Bank, as well as a photo of the DGB's organizational secretary, Tobias Huth. . "It is to blame us that we are criminals as representatives of the DGB."

His colleague Eifler accused the AfD in the context of the event to divert dues. In a press release, the district badociation of AfD Main-Kinzig writes: "Ulrike Eifler (regional director of DGB Hanau regional office) uses the union's resources for its election campaign as a candidate from the left party to the Bundestag. Their behavior corresponds less to that of a lobbyist than their contributors, but rather to that of an official of the FDGB of the GDR.

The defamation of Huth and the offender on the left is above all the fact that the trade unionists of Hanau launch the national campaign. No AfD in the state parliament "organizes. The tactic was to attack the leaders in order to divide the campaigners

Another reason for these allegations could be the refusal of a dialogue between AfD and DGB in Hanau by Ulrike Eifler. She responded to an open letter from AFD's direct candidate, Walter Wissenbach, who had unilaterally invited for a dialogue in the DGB's home. He referred to a March 12 event, in which AfD members had not been sent back to the chambers.

Eifler clarified that it was only courtesy reasons not to refer them to the event. During this event, there was no dialogue on the joint intersections between DGB and AfD. In a statement released on July 15, she said: "The DGB and the AfD are political opponents and not allies."

On October 28, a new state legislature will be elected in Hesse. The AFD has not yet been represented and is now hoping to enter parliament – local unionists are trying to prevent this.