Reiche: labor law 'set in concrete' – labor ministry must deliver
Economy Minister Katherina Reiche called at an employers' conference for an 'unshackled' labor market with more flexible dismissal protection. SPD leader Klingbeil denied that Bas had slowed reforms.
Archive image · Photo: Grunpfnul / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Economy Minister Katherina Reiche demanded swift reforms from the labor ministry, telling the German Employers' Day in Berlin the ministry must deliver. The labor market should be "unshackled," she said, calling labor law "set in concrete." Reiche cited weekly working hours and more flexible protection against dismissal as examples and pointed to the reform package coalition leaders agreed in early July.
The ministry is now led by Alexander Schweitzer of the SPD, successor to the resigned Bärbel Bas. Reiche called the bereavement in Bas' family deeply regrettable. SPD leader and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil stressed that Bas had not slowed reforms. Chancellor Friedrich Merz expects the new minister to implement the plans quickly.