Planned pension reform: IG Metall threatens to protest if pensions are minimize – “Then the hut will burn” | EUROtoday

The head of Germany’s largest commerce union IG Metall, Christiane Benner, has criticized Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) for his statements on pension coverage and threatened the federal government with strikes.

“If the government cuts the statutory pension, then the hut will burn,” mentioned Benner, in response to an advance report within the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Thursday, including: “There are no-gos to which we would respond with protests.”

Merz had defined that the statutory pension may solely be “basic insurance” sooner or later. Benner referred to as this irresponsible. The unions are open to structural reforms, however won’t settle for cuts that make workers poorer.

In the occasion of huge resistance, she additionally introduced that the federal government would introduce so-called ready days, throughout which workers who reported sick would initially not obtain any wages.

At the identical time, Benner welcomed the federal authorities’s discount in mineral oil tax on account of the Iran warfare. She considered the proposal for a tax-free bonus of 1,000 euros for workers as usually constructive as a reduction, however criticized the shortage of coordination with the social companions. In distinction to the same regulation in 2022, this time the federal government acted unilaterally.

Benner primarily referred to as for everlasting wage will increase and referred to the upcoming collective bargaining spherical within the fall for the roughly 4 million workers within the metallic and electrical industries. The union is able to strike and has a ‌effectively ‌crammed strike fund, she defined.