Overview
- Unions parliamentary leader Jens Spahn publicly pressed the SPD on Sunday to implement the coalition agreement to allow a weekly, rather than daily, working‑time limit so employers and staff can arrange hours more flexibly.
- A high‑level meeting at the Kanzleramt produced no decision and instead set further consultations with employers and trade unions to try to bridge the parties’ differences.
- Labour Minister Bärbel Bas has said she will draft legislation that permits more flexible scheduling but will include clear limits on forced hours and safeguards for workers without collective bargaining coverage.
- Trade unions and the DGB are mobilizing opposition and have called a major demonstration in Berlin for 27 June under the slogan defending the social state.
- The proposal would align Germany’s law more closely with the EU working‑time directive and revive debate over the historic eight‑hour day with consequences for shift patterns, rest periods and collective bargaining across sectors.