The Social Association Germany (SoVD) has rejected a paper from the CDU’s Economic Council, titled “Agenda for Workers” calling it unsocial and “disturbing”.
SoVD chairman Michaela Engelmeier told newspapers of the Funke media group that the union’s criticisms of citizens are daily, “the Chancellor claims everyone takes too many sick days, the Mittelstandsunion thinks millions want part‑time work for fun, and now the CDU Economic Council brings another unsettling idea to the table”. She acknowledged that tax cuts for working people, which appear in the council’s paper, would be welcomed, but “not under terms that resemble a cattle trade”.
The proposed reduction of unemployment benefits from two years to just one would, she said, plunge millions who have lost jobs involuntarily into hardship. Excluding dental care from health insurance would also aggravate the existing two‑tier medical system: “the wealthy would have good teeth, the needy would have even more gaps”.
“These proposals ultimately mean only one thing: further hollowing out our solidarity principle and eroding the welfare state” Engelmeier summarized. She argues that what is now needed are sustainable reforms that are justly financed-perhaps by reintroducing a wealth tax, reforming inheritance tax, ensuring a fair tax on dividends, properly taxing large corporations, and raising the top tax rates for the very rich and super‑rich.