Posted on 01/16/2018 7:19:38 AM PST by C19fan
Germany already has a 35-hour work week. Now, the country's most powerful union, IG Metall, is demanding its 3.9 million workers in the electrical and metalworking industries be allowed to work a 28-hour week for two years. The union staged several walkouts to make its point, and is gearing up for nationwide strikes if its demands aren't met.
Americans should take note.
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...
NO WAY!
I’d like to see a TRUE feral gubment shut down but we have never had such a thing. The paychecks may be suspended but they always get all their back pay for the time they sat at home and did nothing. The only thing a feral gubment shut down does is to suspend spending for some of the non-payroll stuff and they usually quickly make that up in waste, fraud and abuse of the fiscal system.
My German counterparts had a lot more vacation time - and actually took it! - as well as more holidays. I did notice when I was there,however,that everyone was industrious and, like us, worked well over 8 hours/day. The operations were also profitable. My conclusion being that Germans are more productive than Americans. How else can they be profitable yet work fewer hours?
I just figured up my overtime hours for 2016 and 2017. The hours calculate to me having worked an additional 7 weeks in 2016 and another additional 7 weeks in 2017...not to mention my other part-time job and a third “sometimes” job.
40 hours a week is Part Time, what the hell is the matter with these people?? I haven’t worked lass than 80 hrs a week in 30 plus years. I am one of those greedy business owners.
No it wouldn't. The employer would demand 40 hours worth of productivity in a 28 hour period.
Oh if we only had it so good,...I work 28 hrs in the first morning shift in one day, and am expected to take half pay without smoke breaks....
France too and look at how that turned out.
I have no doubt Foxconn and Apple could cut their workers in China to 28 hours/week and pay them for a 40 hour week and still make a hefty margin.
In Germany, the employer gains because hourly taxes on labor would go down as hours worked declined.
A lot would depend on whether the employers could move factories elsewhere in the EU, for example, the Czech Republic or Poland.
Like here, wages in Germany have stagnated as corporate profits have increased, so there is a growing push for higher wages.
I just figured up my overtime hours for the past two years. The hours calculated out to me having worked an additional 7 weeks in 2016 and another additional 7 weeks in 2017. This does not include my part-time job and my “sometimes” job.
Thank goodness I’m hourly or the past 16 years of all this overtime, with not so much as a pat on the back, would make me feel not valued.
They get 6 weeks of MANDATORY vacation time (they HAVE to take it) plus minimum sick time, minimum family time off and more.
I haven't done the full math on it because sick time and family time can vary a bit however I think you're quite close to the truth that they already work 28 hours a week if you average it out!
No wonder Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, Volksawagen and more are building new plants here and increasing capacity.
Northern Europeans are among the most productive workers in the world. Some of it is culture but some of it is self-selection. The Gov’t imposes so many rules and costs that unless a worker is productive the costs it is not worth hiring one. Germany has pushed out all the low productive workers out of the workforce or underground.
After studying, living, and then working in Germany for more than a decade, I remember how shocked I was, upon returning to the U.S. for a vacation, to see how family members I would visit at work would "take off" to get something from the pharmacy, drop something off at the bank, or even go to the hair-dresser's.
Regards,
That’s going to work out well for the Muslims./s/
....or the ZERO hour work week like 98 million of our citizens enjoy.
I worked a 36 hour week for a couple of years. The company workforce was divided into two shifts, A and B. A shift worked 10 hours a day for three days, then from 6:AM until noon. B shift came on at noon, worked six hours then ten hours a day for the next three days. It allowed the company to be open seven days a week for at least 10 hours a day.
It was nice being off 3 1/2 days a week. We did find it hard and expensive keeping ourselves entertained with that much time off, though.
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