Yasmin Fahimi, the Chairwoman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), has vocally rejected several proposed political initiatives, including measures aimed at eliminating the May Day holiday, mandating longer working hours, or reducing health insurance benefits. Calling these proposals untenable, Fahimi noted the severity of the current economic situation. She stated that Germany is losing thousands of jobs monthly, necessitating the use of short-time work schemes. Furthermore, she highlighted the disparity between the three million unemployed people and only one million available jobs, concluding that the current challenge is not a lack of effort but rather an underlying weakness in economic growth.
Fahimi expressed deep disappointment with the record of the new coalition government (composed of the CDU/CSU and SPD) after its first year in power. She believes the government has failed to establish a clear industrial and economic policy that would provide greater planning certainty, stimulate innovation, or strengthen key industries. Instead, she criticized the government for relying on what she termed an “outdated neoliberal concept that the market will solve on its own”. She particularly criticized the government’s tendency to threaten reforms that are likely to be painful for the average citizen.
Regarding specific policies, Fahimi pointed to the planned overhaul of the health insurance system as an example. She argues that merely focusing on cost containment is insufficient; instead, massive structural reforms and greater efficiency are required. She called for stricter controls to prevent abuse of the system.
Looking ahead to the proposed tax reforms, Fahimi set out specific demands: she insists that personal income tax rates must be lowered for the majority of employees and that the basic real estate tax exemption should be increased. However, these measures, she stressed, must be paired with higher top tax rates for extremely high earners. She simultaneously issued a strong warning against blanket tax breaks, calling them “money handouts” that fail to address the systemic issues. She argued that such generalized company tax cuts are misguided because the economic weakness does not affect all businesses equally.
As a particularly poor example, Fahimi criticized the reduction of the gastronomy tax, arguing that this mainly benefited large chains like Subway, Burger King, and McDonald’s. She questioned whether these chain restaurants are truly system-critical industries that require support during a crisis. She concluded that the federal government must become far more precise and targeted in its decision-making efforts.
