Linke on the economy

The Left wants to tackle the shortage of skilled workers with better working conditions rather than by forcing people to work more. The state's economic development funding should strengthen automation where employees support it, making shorter working hours possible.

Saxony does not have enough workers. The Left does not want to force anyone to work more. It wants better pay and conditions. Machines and computers should take over dull tasks. Then people can work fewer hours.

The program bases this approach on Saxony's shrinking population. It sees automation as a response to demographic change and as a supporting measure for the shorter working hours that unions are seeking. Productivity gains from digitalization and AI are to receive particular attention. The Left backs the demand of employees and unions for a shorter working week with no loss of pay.

The Left calls for price caps on raw materials and equipment that businesses depend on. In addition, jointly managed stockpiles would be set up and speculation in these materials would be banned.

Materials have become more expensive for craft businesses. The Left wants a maximum price for important raw materials. There should be shared stockpiles. Nobody should be allowed to bet on rising prices for these materials.

According to the program, raw material prices are rising mainly because of speculation and because producers and intermediaries hold back goods to increase their profits. The extra costs for craft businesses are ultimately passed on to consumers, it says. The Left's answer consists of three steps: a price cap, jointly managed stockpiles and a ban on speculation.

The Left wants to raise the Meisterbonus (a state bonus for new master craftspeople) to 2,500 euros, and to 3,500 euros for women. In the future it would also go to certified specialists and business managers, and master training backed by BAföG (student aid) would be possible without being employed at a firm.

People who become master craftspeople in Saxony get money from the state. The Left wants to raise this bonus to 2,500 euros. Women should get 3,500 euros. People should be able to become masters without a fixed employer.

The program justifies the higher bonus for women by noting that nearly 90 percent of master titles in Saxony are held by men and that women face structural disadvantages in the trades. Craft businesses would receive targeted support to make training and jobs more attractive to women and people with a migration background. Overall, the measures are meant to make the trades more appealing and encourage people to start their own business.

The Left wants to reform Saxony's economic development funding and focus it on industries of the future. Funding would be available only where working conditions are good, wages are adequate and operations are environmentally sustainable, and small companies would get easier access to programs.

The state gives companies money so they can invest. The Left wants to attach conditions to it. Companies should pay well and protect the environment. Small companies should get the money more easily. There should be limits for large companies.

Subsidized companies that raise their productivity should let their employees work shorter hours. For small and medium-sized businesses, the Left wants to concentrate innovation funding in research clusters and advance their digitalization. The plan includes more transparency, shorter procedures, clear guidelines, fast decisions and limits on funding for large corporations. Funding would be increased, awarded according to expected impact, and monitored to make sure it is used as intended.

The Left calls for an industry foundation financed by the federal government through which the state would buy targeted stakes in companies. The aim is to put the transformation of industry under public control and to protect key energy infrastructure.

The Left wants a new foundation for industry. The federal government should pay for it. The foundation buys shares in companies. This way the state can have a say in how industry changes.

In the Left's view, the transformation of industry can only succeed under public control. The stakes are meant to keep essential energy-sector infrastructure from being sold to authoritarian states or to private corporations.

The Left calls for a fresh start to the economic transition in Saxony's coal regions. It should be geared more toward sustainability, involve local people in a binding way and concentrate funding on the regions most affected.

Coal mining is ending in Lusatia and near Leipzig. The regions get money for new projects. The Left wants local people to have a say first. Children and young people should help plan too. The money should go mainly to small companies.

Projects would focus on public services and on local and long-distance public transportation, including electrifying the Dresden–Görlitz rail line as a federal project. From 2027, a minimum share of projects in each coal region would be developed by or with children and young people. The Left wants to draw up a joint skilled-worker strategy with the state of Brandenburg and support initiatives that encourage people to return to Lusatia. Coal companies would no longer get preferential treatment in business subsidies; small and medium-sized businesses would be the focus instead.

The Left wants to strengthen tourism in Saxony and make vacations possible for people with little money. Businesses would get funding if they set aside places for people in need or operate more sustainably. Day tourism is to be expanded.

The Left wants to strengthen tourism in Saxony. People with little money should be able to take a vacation too. Hotels get public money if they offer places for poor people. Those that save energy and water get money as well. Buses and trains should get better.

The platform names accessible, attractive local and long-distance public transport as a precondition for growth. Funding should no longer be based mainly on overnight stays and bed numbers. Pilot projects with new, including shared, employment models are meant to ease the shortage of skilled workers; where the market does not provide facilities, counties and municipalities should be able to run them. Added to this are cross-regional cooperation, digital management of visitor numbers in national and nature parks, and a certificate for businesses that protect customer data well.

The Left rejects further privatization and the sale of municipal property. Essential public services should be provided by municipally run enterprises that pay collectively agreed wages and are overseen by elected local representatives.

Water, housing and health matter to everyone. The Left wants such tasks to stay with the state and the towns. Towns should not sell their property. The town's own enterprises should do the work.

Municipal property should not be sold to plug budget gaps. In areas such as housing and health, the party says the aim must not be to maximize profits. It rejects outsourcing even when the subsidiary is wholly owned by the municipality, arguing this often worsens working conditions and services. The only alternative the platform names is cooperatives in which citizens hold a stake.

The Left wants the state to fund consumer protection permanently and adequately. Advice should also be available in rural areas and smaller towns. Consumer organizations would get state money for collective lawsuits.

The Left wants to protect consumers better. Consumers are people who buy things. The state should reliably pay for advice services. Advice should also be available in the countryside. The state should give money for lawsuits on behalf of many consumers.

The platform sees consumer protection as part of basic social services, set against market players it describes as often overpowering. It names support for cooperation and competence centers and permanently funded mobile advice. Financial help with model declaratory actions and EU representative actions is meant to improve legal protection and relieve the courts.

The Left wants to introduce a levy on companies to finance dual vocational training. Companies able to train would pay into a fund, and those that actually train would receive money from it.

Companies should pay money into a shared fund. Those that train apprentices get money from the fund. The Left says this makes paying for training fairer. The money should also help young people without a training place.

All companies capable of training would pay in. Support would go to companies that train themselves or take part in cross-company training. The fund would also pay for training outside companies for young people who did not find a place.