Labor Day: Chancellor Scholz defends workers

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has once again clearly rejected raising the retirement age. “For me, it is a question of decency not to deny those who have worked for a long time the retirement they deserve,” said Scholz in a video message on May 1st, Labor Day. “And younger people who are just starting out in their working lives also have the right to know how long they have to work.”

Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) warned of social cuts on Labor Day. “May 1st is the day of solidarity – we will not allow ourselves to be driven apart,” said the SPD politician to the Berlin “Tagesspiegel”. “Especially on Labor Day, one cannot emphasize enough: I will not allow workers’ rights to be slashed and the welfare state to be dismantled!”

Demonstrations for better working conditions are planned across Germany this Wednesday for Labor Day. The focus of the events is a central rally by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) in Hanover (from 11 a.m.), to which Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) has been announced alongside DGB boss Yasmin Fahimi.

Chancellor: Germany is not an “amusement park”

Scholz emphasized that employees in Germany had never worked as many hours as last year. “That’s why it annoys me when some people talk disparagingly about ‘Germany’s theme park’.” With over 46 million women and men, there are more employed people in Germany than ever before.

But even more workers will be needed in the coming years, said the Chancellor. “That’s why we’re also ensuring that those who fled to us from Russia’s war in Ukraine find work more quickly.” Because work is more than making money. “Work also means: belonging, having colleagues, experiencing recognition and appreciation.”

Employer President: More work necessary

Employer President Rainer Dulger called for people to work more again on Labor Day. “We need more work in Germany, not less,” explained Dulger. “Germany discusses too much about the conditions of non-work – and too little about the value of work,” complained the President of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA). The focus must be on the question of how Germany can be made attractive again as a location. “This also means that we will all have to work more and longer,” Dulger made clear. To achieve this, the framework conditions for work would have to be improved.

“Work is much more than a necessity, this must be brought into greater focus again on May 1st,” emphasized the BDA boss and added: “There is no such thing as effortless prosperity. And: value creation arises in private entrepreneurs.”

DGB boss demands that the SPD defend the welfare state

DGB leader Yasmin Fahimi calls on the SPD to defend the social policy achievements in Germany, including against the traffic light partners. “A dangerous general debate about the welfare state is currently underway. Many who like to talk about citizens’ money actually want to discredit the welfare state and prevent the real injustices in society from being discussed,” Fahimi told the news magazine “Der Spiegel” . The SPD needs to say much more strongly and in simple words what actually sets it apart from the other parties.

The chairwoman of the German Trade Union Confederation warned: “In the crisis, some who have never made peace with the welfare state are digging up old neoliberal ideas. In this respect, I expect the SPD to more clearly develop its offers for economic and labor policy and not only leads defensive battles.” Some questions are hardly discussed. For example: “What do income millionaires actually contribute to the common good? Why is there still no collective agreement for half of the employees?”

“It’s apparently easier and sometimes a deliberate distraction to stir up a conflict in the population that doesn’t even exist: you have to go to work while someone else is lying lazily on the sofa with your money,” said Fahimi. “Instead of playing citizens’ benefit and minimum wage recipients off against each other, we should look at the absurdly high wealth with which some people live in luxury.”