German Government Seeks to Scrap Eight-Hour Day as Unions Call for Summer Protests

Germany’s trade unions have mobilised for a large-scale demonstration at the end of June after Chancellor Friedrich Merz invited employer associations and labour representatives to a high-level meeting on 10 June 2026. The gathering at the chancellery is set to run for three hours and will focus on a sweeping reform package covering working time, pensions and taxes — changes the government hopes to finalise before the summer recess.

At the heart of the dispute is a planned overhaul of the German Working Time Act. The coalition is considering replacing the traditional eight-hour day with a weekly maximum working time, a move that would give employees covered by collective bargaining agreements considerably more flexibility. Unions, however, have pushed back fiercely. “These plans are economically and socially misguided,” said DGB chairwoman Yasmin Fahimi. Michael Vassiliadis, head of the IGBCE chemical workers’ union, also rejected the abolition of the eight-hour day and instead demanded measures to bring down energy prices.

The pension pillar of the reform is equally contentious. Proposals include raising the retirement age and introducing a Swedish-style public share pension. Employers want higher deductions for those who retire early. Chancellor Merz has called on the social partners to come forward with constructive ideas to shore up the social security system.

Tax relief and red tape reduction are also on the agenda. The government is discussing the complete abolition of the solidarity surcharge and an increase in the top income-tax rate for the wealthy. SPD co-chair Bärbel Bas insisted that low- and middle-income earners must get relief of at least 500 euros. She also warned that greater working-time flexibility must not lead to extra burdens for the roughly third of employees not covered by a collective agreement. On bureaucracy, the coalition wants to cut compliance costs for businesses and inject more dynamism into the economy — though government spokesman Kornelius described the evening session as “an important exchange of political positions” and played down hopes for immediate decisions.

No concrete measures will be adopted on 10 June. Both CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann and his SPD counterpart Tim Klüssendorf stressed that the talks are meant to keep dialogue alive. Klüssendorf also demanded improvements to the planned nursing-care reform.

The coalition committee is scheduled to meet on 30 June and 1 July to approve the specific measures. The government aims to adopt the key points before the parliamentary summer break, with the 2027 budget draft to follow on 6 July. The unions’ protest, set for late June, will run in parallel to these negotiations, raising the political stakes for Merz’s push to rewrite Germany’s labour market rules.

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