Felix Banaszak, the head of the Greens party, heavily criticized the federal government’s reform package, labeling it an act of “work refusal.” He argued that the coalition is overly focused on celebrating its supposed “program for growth and employment” while only addressing minor issues like Sunday trading hours for bakeries and confectioners.
Banaszak expressed deep frustration that instead of tackling major concerns, such as the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the labor market or providing a solution to the current industrial wave of layoffs, the government intends only to hold industry dialogues by autumn. “This is not a ‘program for growth and employment,’ but refusal to work,” the Green leader stated in an interview with the “Rheinische Post”.
Meanwhile, Ines Schwerdtner, the leader of The Left, condemned the planned abolition of telephone sick certificates, calling it “a slap in the face of working people.” Schwerdtner told the “Rheinische Post” that the proposal proves that efforts toward debureaucratization benefit only employers, while employees must endure additional proof requirements.
She further explained that requiring a mandatory doctor’s certificate from the first day of illness would primarily increase bureaucracy. It would burden primary care practices, which are already working at capacity, with extra appointments. Schwerdtner also highlighted the challenges for the ill: “People with slight illnesses will have to go to the doctor’s office when rest and recovery are often the best treatment. This unnecessarily increases the risk of infection between patients and puts pressure on medical staff.”
Luigi Pantisano, also leading The Left, sharply criticized the government’s announcement to block the social ownership of residential property. Speaking to the news portal T-Online, he asserted, “The SPD, together with the Union, is engaging in clientelism for the real estate lobby. In this way, the SPD is against the tenants in this country.”
Pantisano linked this policy to the party’s central platform: the socialization of large housing companies and the transfer of the housing stock into public hands-a condition it has made for possible coalitions. He judged that the federal government is proceeding undemocratically against tenants. “The federal government is afraid of the tenants who are not willing to continue enduring the intolerable conditions in the housing market. And: the Merz government is afraid of a strong Left party that, together with the tenants, organizes resistance.”
Pantisano pointed out that current polls in the capital indicate The Left is the strongest force in Berlin, surpassing the CDU, declaring that “The current election polls for Berlin show: the resistance will be massive.”
