5 ms·
Well if a company cannot compete because wages are too high then the company goes under and jobs are gone. Germany is a good example of this, they have a ton o
by eriken 9y ago
Well if a company cannot compete because wages are too high then the company goes under and jobs are gone.
Germany is a good example of this, they have a ton of unions and lots of production but the unions understand that competition is key to survival so there are very few strikes.
- icebraining 9y agoI live in Southern Europe, and our Volkswagen factory also has had much fewer strikes or other union protests, with workers voluntarily accepting temporary wage cuts and such. I suggest you look into the differences in the management of companies of those countries rather than the unions.
- yardie 9y agoGermany has a modern welfare system. When demand goes down, salaries go down. So the state welfare system makes up the difference. German unions also have a seat at the board. Unlike most board run companies a decision isn't made without input from the union. So yes, there few strikes in Germany because labor and management actually behave like adults.
- petre 9y agoI wonder where the money for the difference comes from? Taxes. Also German economy is pretty solid since they're a net exporter at the expense of the rest of the EU. This modern welfare system wouldn't work in France, let alone Southern Europe.
- yardie 9y agoYes it comes from taxes, where else. There is no reason German union rules wouldn't work elsewhere. But I believe other companies simply do not want it. They want to delegate to the workers what they want with little feedback. German companies take worker feedback into the cost and rate of production. Therefor, no one is surprised. Workers no what they are expected to produce and management knows what to expect from labor. This is why Walmart has utterly failed to expand into Germany. They thought they could take their abusive worker policies into Germany and when that didn't work they pulled out.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- bonzini 9y agoItaly has the same mechanism (it's called Cassa integrazione guadagni). It is sometimes abused for companies that ought to have gone bankrupt decades ago, but Italy has decent welfare policies and worker rights policies, especially compared to the US.
- pjc50 9y agoThe German works-council system is exceptional, though, and it's a key part of making that work. There has to be trust in the other direction. Trust that accepting a competitive pay deal won't just immediately result in more executive pay, payouts to shareholders, or the factory being closed anyway.
- distances 9y agoIt's not directly comparable, as in Germany the workers have much more power in companies to start with. You need fewer strikes if your representatives in the company board can affect the decisions before they are announced.