Federal Government | SPD base draws red lines

Photo: dpa/Bildfunk Resistance to the federal government's reform course is once again forming in the SPD. Four working groups of the party have agreed on a joint paper on the planned new regulation of working hours. Under the title “Self-determined instead of deregulated,” SPD women, the Working Group for Work (AfA), Jusos and AG 60plus are setting conditions for a relaxation of the current rules. There could therefore be a weekly instead of a daily maximum working time - but only under clear conditions.

The move away from the eight-hour day should be linked to a tariff reservation. Only companies with corresponding collective agreements should be given the opportunity to distribute working hours more flexibly within a week. In addition, the working groups require complete electronic working time recording. An average maximum working time of 40 hours per week is proposed. Overtime should be paid with a statutory minimum surcharge from the first hour above the contractually agreed working hours.

This means that parts of the SPD base are drawing a red line: without a tariff reservation, a corresponding law should not receive the SPD's approval in the Bundestag. The position is reminiscent of a first draft of a corresponding law by Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD), who is negotiating the reform within the coalition. Bas basically wanted to preserve the eight-hour day and tied a maximum weekly working time to collective agreements, which was harshly criticized by the Union and employers' associations.

For the SPD, the dispute is more than a dispute over individual working time regulations, but is part of a months-long struggle among the party base and state associations about how far they can support the reform course of the black-red federal government without further damaging their own social democratic profile.

The new initiative is therefore one of many interventions from the party. Already in the summer, several working groups, sub-districts and state associations had called for a change of course. A “fire letter” from Groß-Gerau stated that the SPD should not just administer social cuts. The AG Migration and Diversity called for an extraordinary party conference and a new election of the party leadership. The demand came from Bielefeld that Bas and party leader Lars Klingbeil had to decide whether they wanted to hold party and government offices at the same time.

The AfA followed up in September. Under the title “Strengthening the welfare state – defending workers’ rights,” it called for binding red lines from the SPD on pension, labor market and social reforms. The central demand was that there should be no social cuts with the votes of the SPD. The working group demands, among other things, a strengthening of the statutory pension, the protection of employee rights and more solidarity-based financing of health and nursing care insurance.

After the defeats in the state elections in Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin, as well as Manuela Schwesig's ultimately fruitless comeback in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the party leadership itself is under pressure. Last Wednesday, Klingbeil said at a citizens' dialogue in Wiesbaden that separating the offices of the party chairman and participation in the government would achieve nothing.

Nevertheless, the question remains as to how long the SPD parliamentary group will continue to demonstrate discipline. In contrast to the Union faction, which has repeatedly loudly rebelled against its own chancellor, the Social Democrats have so far distinguished themselves as the anchor of stability in the federal government. However, during the tough negotiations over the reform of long-term care insurance, a change became apparent.

The recent dispute over long-term care insurance showed how difficult it has become to find compromises within the government. Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU) initially wanted to stabilize the ailing care funds primarily through savings. The SPD parliamentary group then threatened not to support the bill in parliament. Among other things, it demanded a financial contribution from private nursing care insurance and a limit on the personal contributions of those in need of care.

The conflict was eventually defused. The cabinet introduced the draft law, but further structural reform was postponed until next year. A commission is to develop proposals for long-term financing. The SPD wants to implement further changes in the parliamentary process. This does not end the dispute, it simply postpones it. Nevertheless, it is clear that additional conflicts in the SPD will probably lead to even more conflicts in the government if the Social Democrats feel pressured to push through their own positions more harshly, which has so far been the Union's approach in the government.

But severe conflicts are also emerging in other projects. When it came to the planned tax surcharge on sugary products, the Chancellery even stopped a draft by Klingbeil because, according to the Chancellery, it did not have a majority within the government. The finance minister had planned a levy that would take effect from July 2027 and bring in around 1.2 billion euros annually from 2028. The Union and the SPD had agreed in principle on such a measure, but were now arguing about its specific form.

The pension reform is likely to be particularly controversial. The federal government has decided to implement the Pension Commission's recommendations this year. These include, among other things, a stronger connection between retirement age and life expectancy, changes to the deduction-free pension after 45 years of insurance and the creation of a funded pillar.

Pensions after 45 years of contributions are particularly controversial. Both parts of the CDU around the East German state associations and the left wing of the SPD are waiting for the planned reform to be changed. Bundestag member Tim Klüssendorf also insists on receiving a pension after 45 years of contributions and is also calling for civil servants, self-employed people and members of parliament to be included in statutory pension insurance in the future. The SPD wants to renegotiate the commission's recommendations and, in particular, enforce hardship regulations.

However, there is growing pressure from the economic wing of the Union. Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) demands that Bas quickly submit a draft law and that the reform be passed this year. SPD parliamentary secretary Dirk Wiese rejects such public demands and ultimatums. They made compromises more difficult instead of making them easier.

Even beyond care, pensions and working hours, the number of open points of contention is growing. The coalition is fighting for changes to the labor market, including a relaxation of fixed-term employment law. There is also a reform of the income tax. The SPD signals openness to greater relief, but demands counter-financing in return. In the Union, in view of the tense budget situation, further savings are being discussed. Meanwhile, Klüssendorf is calling for a reform of the inheritance tax that would specifically ask billionaire families to pay, which the Union in turn rejects.

According to the Handelsblatt, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group also wants to make its approval of the income tax reform dependent on whether Bas presents drafts for pension and labor market reform in a timely manner. If working hours, care and pensions simultaneously become moments of crisis for the government, where SPD politicians mark their red lines, it will be significantly more difficult for the SPD parliamentary group leadership to create unity, which in turn will make the coalition even more unstable.

The dispute over working hours is therefore another conflict in an increasingly narrow political space. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) recently emphasized how important a stable federal government is for Germany and Europe, but the Chancellor himself does not seem to be able to contribute to actual stability in the government.

For example, the dispute over nursing care reform is said to have become so deadlocked, partly due to pressure from the Federal Chancellor, that Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is said to have exchanged diplomatic views with Klingbeil and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) out of fear of a break in the coalition. With agencies.

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