The construction industry’s leading association, the Hauptgeschäftsführer des Bauindustrieverbands HDB, has launched a sharp rebuke of recent pronouncements by Labour Minister Bärbel Bas of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Tim-Oliver Müller, CEO of the HDB, expressed concern that Bas’s rhetoric risks exacerbating divisions between employers and employees, potentially undermining national stability and economic growth.
While acknowledging that differing perspectives are inevitable, Müller voiced deep reservations about the minister’s framing of the relationship between labour and business. He warned that consciously positioning employers and employees as adversaries in a defined conflict creates a dangerous dynamic, effectively pitting them against each other and jeopardizing a shared objective.
The HDB’s critique centers on the argument that effective governance requires emphasizing unity and shared interests, rather than fostering antagonism. Müller stressed the indispensable interdependence of labor and capital, underlining that sustained economic development, social welfare programs and overall prosperity are fundamentally reliant on a collaborative environment. He asserted that neglecting this interconnectedness risks jeopardizing the nation’s trajectory and eroding public trust in political leadership. The association’s statement highlights a growing tension between government interventions and the needs of the construction sector, raising questions about the SPD’s strategy for navigating these complex economic and social pressures.
