10/11/2025October 11, 2025
German unions accuse government of anti-worker policies
have accused the national government of pursuing policies that harm workers and warned employers against shifting the burden of economic challenges onto staff.
Yasmin Fahimi, chairwoman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), warned against a return to “neoliberal market policies,” saying many companies were seeking to make workers pay for management’s mistakes through wage cuts or job losses. She warned of a “major social conflict.”
“If we continue like this, we will see social discord, to which we as unions will respond accordingly,” Fahimi told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland, adding that unions were ready to negotiate “smart investments and site security” if employers engaged in good faith.
“Many companies have made management errors. But instead of ironing them out themselves, they are making increasingly absurd demands on politicians. And if they don’t, then the workers should pay for it by foregoing wages or by having jobs cut.”
Frank Werneke, head of Germany’s services union Verdi, has criticized planned changes to citizen’s benefits, saying the reform a new more basic security system for job seekers would push people into existential fear.
Verdi, one of Germany’s largest trade unions, represents workers in public services, transport, health care, media, and finance.
The post Germany news: Union group warns of ‘major social conflict’ appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
