The Christian Democratic Workers’ Union of Germany (CDA) has strongly condemned proposals from the CDU Economic Council that call for sweeping cuts to unemployment benefits and reductions in health‑insurance coverage.
Dennis Radtke, the CDA’s federal chairman, said the party leadership should reject these ideas, noting that the proposals come from a group of privileged employers who dictate what workers should lose without showing what they themselves are willing to contribute.
Radtke expressed surprise at how this council, largely composed of entrepreneurs, can dictate reductions while avoiding a concrete proposal of compensation. He added that the council seems to try to compensate for its lack of closeness to workers’ everyday reality with a mix of ideology and neoliberal rhetoric.
In its “Agenda for Workers in Germany” the CDU Economic Council outlined two main demands:
1. The entitlement period for unemployment benefit I should be capped at twelve months for all claimants.
2. Various health‑insurance benefits-particularly dental care-could be covered privately and should no longer be borne by contributors under the collective pay‑roll scheme.
These proposals have been met with explicit opposition from the CDA, which calls on the CDU leadership to dismiss them.
