Nearly 50 business associations employing some 20 million people plan to take part in the work stoppage, the media outlet has reported
Dozens of major German business associations are planning a massive joint protest action later in January to show their dissatisfaction with the federal government’s economic policies, the Bild tabloid reported on Friday.
The strike and protests are planned in Berlin and other German cities on January 29, the media outlet reported, citing the leaders of several business associations. Nearly 50 business groups, representing around 20 million workers, are expected to participate.
Major organizations joining the action include the Association of Family Entrepreneurs, the metal industry group Gesamtmetall, the German Hotel and Restaurant Association, the German Wholesale and Foreign Trade Association, and the Small and Medium Business Association. Several fashion industry enterprises have also said they will take part.
Some of the business leaders sharply criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s cabinet in a conversation with Bild. “In politics, not everyone has understood how dramatic the situation is,” Stefan Wolf, head of Gesamtmetall, told the tabloid, adding that the government is failing to grasp the seriousness of the situation. The industries had been being “forced to their knees” by the government’s “wrong framework conditions,” he stated.
The concerns were echoed by the president of the German Foreign Trade Association, Dirk Jandura, who pointed to a protracted recession faced by the nation. “We are in the middle of the third year of the crisis, with no signs of improvement. Overregulation continues unabated,” he told Bild.
The head of the Association of Family Entrepreneurs, Marie-Christine Ostermann, called for a fundamental shift in the government’s economic policies. “We are fighting for an economic turnaround,” she said. The upcoming 2025 federal election should be treated like a “referendum” on which parties and policies will provide businesses with the relief they desperately need, the association head stated.
The list of demands put forward by the business associations includes lower taxes, a halt to rising social security contributions, and fewer regulations and laws that businesses say are stifling growth.
The planned strike comes as Germany grapples with a significant economic downturn. In 2024, the country’s GDP shrank by 0.2%, following a 0.3% contraction in 2023, according to a report published by the country’s federal statistics office, Destatis, this week. The prolonged manufacturing slowdown, combined with rising energy costs due to the shift from Russian gas to more expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US, has severely impacted businesses, especially in energy-intensive industries.
The protest comes less than a month before the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for February 23.
