The “Zeitenwende” (historic turning point) proclaimed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine runs counter to the interests of working people and poses major challenges for trade unions.
Ulrike Eifler is the chair of Die Linke’s trade unionist working group and a member of the party executive.
Industrial unions are now facing a process of reverse defence conversion: with resources and productive activities being shifted from a civilian-oriented economy towards a military-oriented one, and traditional positions on peace policy are at risk of being swept aside. Civil service unions must wage their battles for a just distribution of wealth amidst tightening budgets; concerns about public service are increasingly being eclipsed by those pertaining to military utility.
At the same time, the public discourse on flexible working hours, unpaid grace periods during sick leave (Karenztage), and basic income (Bürgergeld) reveals that the militarized Zeitenwende has profound consequences for social policy. Society is being reshaped in a more authoritarian direction: Bavaria’s law promoting the Bundeswehr, the cooperation between the Bundeswehr and the Federal Employment Agency, the push for civil-military collaboration in healthcare, and a newly passed omnibus law to making it easier to implement emergency legislation — all of this is reshaping German society. Record-breaking military spending and a brutal enforcement of the “primacy of security policy” mark the massive expansion of the military-industrial complex.
It is fair to say that trade unions are facing epochal battles over the welfare state and fundamental rights. Trade union strategy in the Zeitenwende must therefore begin with an analysis of these developments.
Arming for a Geopolitical Leadership Role
The call by then-Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) to prepare Germany for war was not a mere rhetorical slip. There is broad consensus within the political establishment that Germany should position itself as a key geopolitical player.
In his August 2022 speech at Charles University in Prague, Olaf Scholz noted that the United States is prioritizing its conflict with China, meaning Europe must act as an independent political entity, with Germany taking a leadership role. Likewise, SPD chair Lars Klingbeil stated in a keynote speech at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung that after 80 years of restraint, Germany must once again assert itself as a decisive leader in global politics.
This push towards militarization and war-readiness is a response to shifting global dynamics. The Global South is joining forces and boosting its economic cooperation, while industrial nations like the US and Germany grapple with deindustrialization. The driving force behind Germany’s militarization is the fear among its ruling elites of economic decline — the loss of economic strength is to be offset by military strength.
In line with this strategy, the Scholz government has already prioritized the expansion of the domestic arms industry. Its “National Security and Defence Industry Strategy” has paved the way for state-run arms production. The strategy provides a set of guidelines for an industrial policy that would support German arms firms in switching to war production, creating the necessary political, economic, regulatory, and societal conditions at national and European levels. The defence industry is enthusiastic. Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger is not the only one who has long been drumming up support for 250–300 billion euro in funding to give the defence sector planning security.
This development poses major challenges for industrial unions. While the war in Ukraine is exacerbating the crisis in Germany’s leading industries, the value chains in the defence industry are stabilizing, bringing significant job growth to this sector. The industry reports almost 400,000 new hires and speaks of the biggest recruitment drive since the end of the Cold War.
Yet a closer look reveals that the scale and speed of the increase in arms production paired with procurement policies set to last for a decade or more bear the hallmarks of concrete war preparations. Small-scale manufacturers are turning into mass producers. Rheinmetall alone has increased its artillery shell capacity tenfold since the Ukraine war began.
Militarization Threatens Public Services
Not only are trade unions’ traditional peace policies under threat, but so too are all efforts towards a social-ecological transformation — particularly if “green” steel is no longer being used for buses, trains, and railways, but for tanks destined to rust on blood-soaked battlefields. The necessary debate on the ecological restructuring of industry cannot separate the question of what is produced from its social utility.
The push for militarization also endangers public welfare. For example, the new Postal Act stipulates that, in times of escalation or war, mail delivery will prioritize militarily significant individuals or institutions, subordinating postal services to military utility. Under the pressure of the Zeitenwende, core principles such as the Beutelsbach Consensus are being cast aside, with soldiers in classrooms and grenade-throwing drills in PE lessons.
The Zeitenwende is drastically shifting the balance between capital and labour.
Militarization in the healthcare sector has progressed particularly far. The new “Framework Directive for Total Defence” requires Germany’s federal states to prepare medical services for wartime, mandating close cooperation with relevant Bundeswehr authorities. A “Healthcare Security Act” is also being developed to oversee the provision of healthcare in the event of disasters or armed conflict, viewed by experts as a critical first step towards subordinating civilian healthcare to military control in wartime.
It is already becoming apparent that this civil-military cooperation will severely impact citizens’ access to healthcare. For example, the Bundeswehr is to be granted the right to use civilian hospitals and rehabilitation centres, a move that will divert already scarce resources away from civilian healthcare and funnel them towards the military sector instead.
An Attack on Workers’ Rights
In the penultimate session week of the last Bundestag, amidst the row over cooperation between the conservatives (CDU/CSU), the Free Democrats (FDP), and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), the Bundestag quietly passed parts of the Article to Strengthen Personnel Readiness almost unnoticed by the public. The legislation allows several laws from the Germany Emergency Acts (passed in 1968) to be applied to the Zeitenwende.
Once fully in force, it will compel employees in sectors supplying the Bundeswehr or allied forces, the armaments industry, or related services, as well as researchers engaged in military research, to remain at their posts. The law also enables restrictions on basic rights — such as physical integrity, freedom of movement, choice of employment, and protection against forced labour — during periods of heightened conflict.
The law’s potential to significantly alter working and living conditions for the broader population is illustrated by the extension of military personnel’s weekly working hours to 54. This development may be seen as a harbinger of longer working hours in other critical sectors, such as infrastructure or arms manufacturing. The coronavirus pandemic already demonstrated how quickly such changes can occur, since working hours in essential service sectors were extended overnight to a maximum of 12 hours daily or 72 hours weekly.
Trade Unions and the Peace Movement Must Work Together
The Zeitenwende is drastically shifting the balance between capital and labour. In a social climate shaped by deindustrialization, inflation, and attacks on the welfare state — woven into a broader narrative of sacrifices — it is not trade union demands for decent work that are gaining traction, but employer calls for wage restraint, deviations from collective agreements, and longer working hours.
The Zeitenwende discourse must not go unchallenged. More radically than at any time since the post-war era, the working and living conditions of workers are being jeopardized, with their subordination to the new ‘security policy’ being enforced by authoritarian means.
The attempt to integrate unions into the rearmament agenda should not be underestimated, particularly while the SPD is in government. However, the complex social crises of our time restrict the unions’ ability to effectively champion workers’ interests. The “Concerted Action” of 1967–1976 was one such attempt to hold unions to a policy of restraint and to prevent strikes altogether.
Another such attempt was the draft Federal Collective Bargaining Act, which the SPD and the Greens rushed through the cabinet three weeks after the traffic-light coalition’s collapse. With ruthless disregard, this law subordinates the vital goal of strengthening collective bargaining coverage to the Zeitenwende agenda. The law explicitly exempts public contracts tied to the Bundeswehr, public supply, construction and service contracts, or to the fulfillment of the needs of the Bundeswehr from its provisions until 2030. It also excludes contracts needed by the Bundeswehr, civil defence, disaster response, federal police, or other security forces to manage or prepare for specific crises — an exemption extending to contracts essential for securing energy supplies, maintaining healthcare services, ensuring building safety, and preserving federal infrastructure.
The restrictions show that trade unions are unlikely to find an ally for their struggle for a more just distribution of wealth in the new federal government either. They must therefore highlight the link between rearmament and social austerity. To this end, trade unions must break free from the SPD’s political grip and assert their mandate independently and confidently.
Trade unions and the peace movement depend on each other: without trade unions, the peace movement will struggle to remain socially relevant amid the contradictions of the Zeitenwende; without the peace movement’s support, unions will find it hard to effectively champion workers’ interests. It’s time for closer cooperation.
Translated for Gegensatz Translation Collective by Diego Otero and Hunter Bolin.