The CDU’s business wing has proposed changes that would tighten workers’ right to part‑time work, a move that has met strong criticism.
Left‑wing leader Ines Schwerdtner warned that such a restriction would be “the next attack on hard‑working people, especially women”. She said the “right to part‑time work is a lifestyle for many who are raising children, caring for relatives, or simply trying to balance work and life”. She added that part‑time “is not a luxury, it is often the only way people can remain employed”. Shrinking that right, she argued, unfairly pushes women out of jobs, worsens income losses, and pushes more people toward old‑age poverty. “It is not modern” she said, “it is back‑wards”. She called for the Union to offer better child‑care and reliable full‑day care as a prerequisite for any moves toward reducing involuntary part‑time work.
The proposals would allow part‑time work only in the event of “special reasons” such as raising children, caring for relatives, or pursuing further education while working, according to the CDU’s employee wing.
Members of the SPD also sharply criticized the business wing’s plan to abolish the right to part‑time work. Deputy parliamentary group leader Dagmar Schmidt warned in the Handelsblatt that the move would erode hard‑won employee rights and urged Germany instead to invest more in education, training, research, and development. “That supports the economy and growth” she said. Schmidt described the initiative as contradictory – on one hand it labels workers who need part‑time schedules as “lazy” and pushes them toward overtime; on the other hand, it “expels” people who are integrated and in training or work.