German trade unions organise nationwide protests across 15 cities against welfare cuts

Coordinated nationwide demonstrations

Protesters gathered in 15 German cities on 26 September 2026 under the collective motto "Hard earned. Your work. Your health. Your pension." Organised by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) alongside welfare, social, and environmental associations, the nationwide rallies opposed planned federal cuts to the welfare state. Union representatives focused their resistance on proposed reductions in social entitlements, increases in the statutory retirement age, and moves toward more flexible working hours. The organising umbrella organisation represents eight member trade unions and approximately 5.4 million workers across Germany. Political parties including Die Linke also announced their participation in the demonstrations across several regional capitals.

Turnout in Frankfurt and Saarbrücken

In Frankfurt am Main, demonstrators gathered for an opening rally before marching through the city centre with banners reading "#nichtamMenschensparen" and slogans asserting that poverty cannot be saved away. Frankfurt police reported an estimated crowd of 15,000 people and stated that the event proceeded without incident, whereas organising unions calculated attendance at over 30,000. DGB district chairman Michael Rudolph declared that employees who get up every morning and pay taxes must not end up footing the bill for budget deficits. In Saarbrücken, both local police and the DGB reported an identical estimate of approximately 12,000 participants in the state capital.

Good work, a strong welfare state and a reliable pension are not a burden, but the foundation for a just society and a strong economy.

Rallies across Berlin, Hamburg, and Erfurt

Crowds also assembled in other regional capitals to oppose federal welfare legislation. In Berlin, between 5,500 demonstrators, according to police estimates, and 12,000, according to union figures, gathered outside the Rotes Rathaus. In Hamburg, members of the ver.di trade union and the "unkürzbar Hamburg" alliance assembled at Besenbinderhof at 10:00 before marching along Kurt-Schumacher-Allee and Mönckebergstraße to the Rathausmarkt for a rally at 11:55, drawing approximately 2,000 people according to police counts. In Erfurt, 1,900 participants at peak capacity according to police, and 4,000 according to the DGB, marched from the central railway station via Juri-Gagarin-Ring and Hirschgarten to the Anger.

Union leadership demands economic alternatives

Union leaders insisted that economic difficulties cannot be solved by cutting welfare programmes and employee protections. Susanne Wingertszahn, DGB leader for Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, stated that social security serves as an insurance policy for crisis times rather than state charity, promising further political action. Deputy federal DGB chairman Stefan Körzell called on the federal government to lower energy prices and invest in industrial innovation rather than imposing austerity on workers.

Social dismantling is the wrong therapy for the economic challenges of our country.

IG Metall executive board member Ralf Reinstädtler argued that the federal government must choose between providing stability during industrial transformation or damaging social cohesion. The trade unions put forward specific demands, including maintaining retirement after 45 contribution years, protecting partial retirement arrangements, preserving the eight-hour workday, setting a statutory pension level of at least 50%, and ensuring more efficient funding for the healthcare system.