Former DGB boss: The father of the minimum wage is dead

From that Tuesday on, he would have been a private citizen. For nine years, Michael Sommer had been a member of the administrative board of ZDF, one of the honorary positions that chairmen of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) traditionally take on after their retirement. He was supposed to step down on July 1st; only a few days ago, he handed over the reins to his successor, Reiner Hoffmann, via video. "He was very present, very fit," Hoffmann recalled on Monday afternoon. There was nothing to indicate that Michael Sommer would no longer be granted retirement, a proper one. On Monday morning, his heart stopped beating, just like that.