PRESS STATEMENT IG Metall on the Debate Over Pension Package II: The FDP Is Fueling Political Disenchantment

Hans-Jürgen Urban, executive board member of IG Metall: “Politics thrives on controversial debates and binding commitments. There were numerous promises to permanently secure pension levels: in the coalition agreement, by the leaders of the ‘traffic light’ coalition parties, and in the Federal Cabinet. But the FDP doesn’t care about any of that. This is a debacle for the ‘traffic light’ coalition and for politics, which is struggling to maintain credibility. What the FDP is doing is a recipe for fostering disillusionment with politics. And they’re doing young people, in particular, a disservice. If the FDP gets its way and the promised safeguarding of pension levels doesn’t materialize after all—or if parts of pensions are tied to investment performance on the stock markets—it is precisely those whom they claim to want to protect who will face uncertain pensions in the future.”