Germany: Yasmin Fahimi becomes first woman to lead German Trade Union Confederation

On Monday morning, Yasmin Fahimi was elected president of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB – Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund), after receiving 93.23% of votes at the annual congress of the organisation that federates the country’s eight main sectoral unions, with a combined 5.7 million members (11.8 million in 1991). Fahimi succeeds Rainer Hoffmann, who had held the post since 2014, and becomes the first-ever woman to take a role held by 11 presidents in the 73 years of its existence. Amid the ongoing transformation of the world of work due to digitalisation and decarbonisation, the vote is also an important signal for the major German trade unions, which have seen their membership decline over the past 30 years. Trade union strategists believe that there is an urgent need to focus more action on a female population in Germany that is working more and more but still has a relatively low level of unionisation, particularly because the world of work does not take their situation into account and they are most commonly found in sectors with a higher level of part-time work and low wages. Men still make up the majority share of the unionised workforce (65.9% in 2020), although this figure is in decline (-2% since 2005). In contrast, 34.1% of union members are women, but they represent around 46% of the working population and 50.6% of the German population. Yasmin Fahimi, who came from the chemical and energy union IG BCE and is a former secretary of state in Germany’s ministry of labour, is currently a member of parliament for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), of which she was formerly general secretary. Known for being outspoken, she knows the German chancellor well but has warned that there will be friction.