DGB

The Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB) is Germany's largest trade union confederation, representing 8 member unions and approximately 5.5 million organised workers across industry, public services, transport, and building trades. Founded in 1949 in West Germany, the DGB coordinates national labour policy and lobbies the Bundestag and Länder governments on issues ranging from the minimum wage to industrial-transition financing.

In the context of Germany's electricity supply-security legislation (StromVKG), the DGB submitted evidence to the Bundestag committee hearing on 24 June 2026 calling the proposed Sudbonus — a premium designed to incentivise siting new gas capacity in grid-constrained southern Germany — 'structurally unjustifiable'. The confederation's position is that the Sudbonus creates a permanent regional subsidy for new gas plant operators in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg without equivalent requirements on workers' terms or supply-chain conditions.

The DGB's stance carries weight ahead of the 9 July StromVKG plenary vote because union opposition puts pressure on SPD legislators and the labour wing of the Greens, both of whom depend on the confederation's backing. The DGB's objection to the Sudbonus aligns with Greens and Left amendments tabling its removal, making the confederation a de-facto legislative ally of the parliamentary opposition on this specific provision.