German Autoworkers Go On Strike
German autoworkers want their share of the record profits announced by German carmakers last year. IG Metall labor union demanded 5.5 percent. Employers countered with 2.3 percent. Today, workers went on strike.
500 employees on the night shift at Daimler’s Mercedes plant in Stuttgart- Sindelfingen walked off the job this morning. More walkouts are planned here and in the Porsche factory nearby, Bloomberg reports. According to IG Metall, “several thousand employees” are expected to join the warning strikes in Germany’s southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
More walkouts are planned for tomorrow in Berlin, affecting a Mercedes component plant an factories of suppliers,
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Sure, give them the full 5.5% raise, then cut 5.5% of union jobs.
Yeah beacuse they'll be able to squeeze even more productivity out of the remaining workers right away--right? The fact is the global corporations have enriched their shareholders massively over the last 30 years with the gains of further automation, computers, supply chain advances and logistics etc etc--how much has gone to workers? At least workers who can strike can demand pay increases to share in the growing pie. Those poor WalMart saps---and workers in general in the US--well they're expected to exist and consume with increasing levels of credit--which benefots whom? Well the wealthy, neoliberal banking class of course. Bring back unions and DEMAND a piece of the pie. These Europeans are fighting the good fight--you ought to be on their side--not on the sides of the neoliberals who wont stop until we all look like Mexico, Venezula, Russia or some other 3rd world hellhole.