Denis Radtke, the head of the CDU’s labour wing, sharply criticized how his own party discusses reforms to the social system. In an interview with the “Handelsblatt” on Tuesday, Radtke-national chairperson of the Christian Democratic Employees’ Association (CDA)-said that “creating a campfire atmosphere for a handpicked group of business‑association officials only while pushing half the country in the face does not solve the problem and, at the same time, worsens the mood”.
He questioned what the party hopes to achieve with its communication strategy, noting that, “sure there are freeloaders and people who are careful about their work‑life balance, but those are not the great majority”. Radtke pointed out that workers’ representatives have long complained about the dominance of the party’s business wing, led by Party Chairman Friedrich Merz and Secretary-General Carsten Linnemann.
“If the impression remains that we have no decent grasp of the everyday life of millions of people in our country, you will not regain trust-on the contrary” he warned. “We need to raise incentives and improve the framework conditions, rather than point the finger at whole segments of the population”.
