Former DGB chairman Sommer dies

Former DGB head Michael Sommer has died at the age of 73, according to the German Trade Union Confederation in Berlin. Sommer served as chairman from 2002 to 2014.

"With sadness and great gratitude, we bid farewell to a committed trade unionist," the DGB said. Sommer "fought passionately for many years against the Hartz reforms and the massive expansion of precarious employment."

His greatest political success was the implementation of the general statutory minimum wage, which was introduced one year after the end of his term in office and from which almost six million people in the country now benefit.

Sommer joined the German Postal Workers' Union at the age of 19, for which he later worked full-time. He studied political science at the Free University of Berlin and was involved in the founding of the service workers' union Verdi in 2001.