DGB action day | DGB action day: Opposition to social cuts

DGB demo in Essen on Saturday: At least participants pointed out the connection between rearmament and social cuts. Photo: IMAGO/Funke Photo Services/Kerstin Kokoska The German Federation of Trade Unions had issued the motto under which simultaneous demonstrations would be held in 15 cities this Saturday against the social cuts planned by the federal government: “Hard earned! Your work. Your health. Your pension.” According to the DGB, a total of around 175,000 people nationwide followed the call and took part in rallies organized by the umbrella organization and its member unions. They have all "sent a strong signal: for secure jobs, good working conditions, a strong welfare state and the protection of workers' rights," said the DGB.

The largest event took place in Essen with, according to the DGB, 17,000 participants, and DGB boss Yasmin Fahimi was the keynote speaker. There were further demonstrations and rallies in Berlin, Bremen, Erfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Freiburg, Hamburg, Hanover, Kiel, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Nuremberg, Rostock, Saarbrücken and Stuttgart.

Fahimi warned that the welfare state should not be allowed to continue to be destroyed. It should not be the case that reforms come “only at the expense of the employees”. "We are ready for change," assured the DGB chairwoman and added: "But not by stripping away our rights, reducing our social security and devaluing our life's work."

The profound social cuts pushed by “clearcut chancellor” Friedrich Merz (CDU) do not strengthen the German economy, quite the opposite, emphasized the DGB chairman in North Rhine-Westphalia, Thorben Albrecht, at the beginning of the event: “Social cuts lead to uncertainty and destroy trust in politics, the economy and ultimately in democracy.”

»A strong economy is created through investments, through innovation, through good work and through good wages that secure purchasing power.«

Fahimi called the reforms “disrespectful” in her 30-minute speech. They are "a frontal attack on the hard-won living standards of the working population." The former SPD general secretary spoke out in favor of maintaining the "hard-fought" eight-hour day: "The orders won't go back because a colleague goes home after eight hours." The new working time law, which provides for further flexibility in working hours, should not come because it makes employees the pure "disposal of the employer."

Fahimi criticized that a strong economy cannot be created by dismantling social security and further increasing the burden on employees. »It is created through investments, through innovation, through good work and through good wages that secure purchasing power.«

With regard to job cuts in the automotive and chemical industries, Fahimi warned that strategic mistakes in companies should not lead to even more job losses. “Where is the entrepreneurial spirit these days, when employers are just complaining and demanding cuts in social benefits and social security contributions,” she asked, speaking of “wage theft” in this context.

"While families, pensioners, working people and those who can no longer work are supposed to tighten their belts, the spiral of armament continues upwards."

She also called for citizens' insurance that everyone pays into and spoke out against the government's planned massive expansion of unfounded fixed-term contracts. A core concern of the day of action was the retention of the pension without deductions after 45 years of contributions, which the black-red coalition wants to abolish without replacement.

The designated top candidate of the NRW Left for next year's state elections, Alexandra Mehdi, told "nd" that there must be an end to "cuts to everything that people really need for a life of dignity." Mehdi continues: »While families, pensioners, working people and those who can no longer work are supposed to tighten their belts, the armament spiral continues upwards. This madness must be stopped.«

Fahimi omitted the topics of rearmament and conscription in her speech. An active member of the DGB Youth NRW said in an interview with “nd” that armament was necessary. “Everything else ignores reality.” But investments in education “should not be forgotten.”

“Solidarity with the unemployed is not an additional social policy issue, but rather belongs to the core of union representation.”

In Berlin, according to the DGB, 12,000 people and, according to the police, 5,500 people came to the demonstration against social cuts. Social, welfare and environmental associations, as well as Die Linke, also called for the rally in front of the Red Town Hall. The party took part in the protests with its own blocs in all 15 cities; chairwoman Ines Schwerdtner was there in Berlin and her co-chairman Luigi Pantisano in Stuttgart.

Meanwhile, the unemployed activist Thomas Wasilewski had drawn attention to another gap in the rallies in a “call for solidarity” to DGB boss Fahimi and Verdi boss Frank Werneke. The "special reality of life of the unemployed and people in the new basic security" was not mentioned in Verdi's call for the day of action. Trade union solidarity should “never end at the company gate”. Because anyone who still has a job today could “tomorrow be dependent on the new basic security that is blind to fundamental rights.”

Wasilewski pointed out that “tougher sanctions, inadequate standards and increasing repression” are weakening the entire workforce. Because: “Anyone who has to fear the loss of their economic security and social decline at any time has a harder time fighting for good working conditions and higher wages in the company.” Solidarity with the unemployed is therefore “not an additional social policy issue, but rather belongs to the core of union representation.”

The »nd.Genossenschaft« belongs to the people who make it possible: our readers and authors. They are the ones who ensure left-wing journalism for everyone with their contribution: without profit maximization, media companies or tech billionaires.

→ report independently and critically → make topics visible that would otherwise go unnoticed → make voices heard that are often ignored → counter disinformation with facts → initiate and deepen left-wing debates

“Pay voluntarily” now and support the financing of our solidarity-based newspaper. So that nd remains.