Overview

• The CDU/CSU-SPD coalition proposes replacing Germany's daily maximum working time with a weekly cap, allowing shifts up to 13 hours while maintaining weekly limits.
• Verdi and DGB leaders warn that the reforms could undermine worker protections, with Verdi highlighting 600 million hours of unpaid overtime as evidence of existing pressures.
• May Day rallies across Germany, including major events in Chemnitz and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, drew thousands of demonstrators advocating for stronger labor rights and investment in public infrastructure.
• DGB Chair Yasmin Fahimi criticized the proposed changes, calling them an attack on the eight-hour workday and urging the government to focus on corporate accountability and economic resilience.
• Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed solidarity with workers, emphasizing the importance of fair wages and strong unions for Germany's social cohesion.