Press Statement IG Metall Statement on Jens Spahn’s Pension Proposal

Social or anti-social—what pension policy will the next government pursue? CDU Executive Committee member Jens Spahn would prefer to abolish retirement at age 63. For many workers, this would amount to a pension cut. IG Metall is protesting.

The cat’s out of the bag: No sooner had the topic of pensions come up in the exploratory talks between the CDU/CSU, the FDP, and the Greens than a demand by CDU Executive Committee member Jens Spahn made headlines: The State Secretary for Finance wants to phase out retirement at age 63. Yet this provision had only gone into effect in 2014.

Since then, employees have been able to retire without any reductions in benefits after 45 years of contributions—even if they have not yet reached the regular retirement age.

For Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, the option to retire after 45 years of contributions closes a “gap in fairness” in German pension law. After all, “Long-term contributors pay a lot and receive comparatively little. Starting work early, many years of hard labor—often working shifts—reduce life expectancy and shorten the period during which one receives a pension.”

Hofmann now sees this achievement in pension policy as being in jeopardy: “Seeking to restrict or even abolish retirement at age 63 is a socio-political provocation,” he says. And this, he adds, even before coalition negotiations have even begun.

With an eye toward the upcoming formation of a government, the IG Metall chairman warns: “A Jamaica coalition must not be a government of employers.” The retirement at age 63, he says, is an important step toward greater fairness in benefits for people who have worked hard for decades and paid into the pension system. Hofmann’s conclusion: “Hands off retirement at age 63!”

Hans-Jürgen Urban, an executive board member of IG Metall responsible for social policy, also sharply criticizes Jens Spahn’s proposal: “The Jupp Heynckes concept doesn’t work for the majority of workers. They aren’t coaches on the Bayern bench.” For electricians, metalworkers, and vehicle builders, working past age 70 is unthinkable. “On the contrary: They often don’t even make it to the standard retirement age. Taking away their retirement at 63 amounts to nothing less than a pension cut.”