Yasmin Fahimi, the chair of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB), accused employers of retreating into what she called a “gift list of social decay”. According to Fahimi, businesses are cutting wage continuation, pension benefits, strike rights and part‑time rights, thereby deepening social erosion. She told the “Handelsblatt” on Monday that she had never witnessed such sweeping attacks on the social state.
Fahimi linked the acute economic crisis to a lack of forward‑looking investment by many employers. She said, “Many businesses rested on their past successes and did little to prepare for the future”. She also criticized the aggressive tariff policy of the United States and the subsidy regime in China. “The answer from employers to these external pressures has been to push for cheaper, higher output” she said, adding that weak exports would hardly be compensated by further uncertainty and a diminished purchasing power.
Instead, she called for a stronger European single market and better infrastructure. On the EU level, Fahimi has proposed import quotas, particularly in the steel sector.
In workplaces, she notes that social partner cooperation has become difficult in too many instances. “One in five works‑council formations is stalled or blocked, sometimes with multi‑million‑Euro budgets spent on lawyers”. The trend toward wage‑free unions and memberships in non‑collective‑agreement associations is rising. Fahimi cited Udo Dinglreiter, the new president of the metal industry employers’ association, noting that “he himself is not represented by a collective agreement, which is unprecedented”.