Yasmin Fahimi, chair of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB), accused employers of steering their companies into a “gift list of social erosion” that includes reduced wage continuance, lower pensions, and limitations on strike and part‑time rights. She told the “Handelsblatt” (Monday edition) that she had never witnessed such broad attacks on the welfare state before.
Fahimi holds business owners partly responsible for the current economic crisis, arguing that many employers have rested on past successes and have done too little to invest in the future. She described the companies’ reaction to aggressive U.S. tariff policy and Chinese subsidies as merely “work more and cheaper”. In her view, export weakness will not be compensated by further uncertainty and a weaker purchasing power. Instead, she stresses the need to strengthen the European internal market and infrastructure, and calls on the EU for import quotas-particularly for the steel industry.
She also pointed out that cooperation between social partners in companies is increasingly strained. About one in five attempts to set up a works council is blocked or delayed, often involving multi‑million‑Euro legal fees. Tariff flight is on the rise, as more employees join associations that lack collective agreements. The fact that Udo Dinglreiter, the new president of the metal employers’ association, himself does not belong to any collective agreement is a striking example of this trend, something she says has never been seen before.
