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Labor Union Chaos Is Germany's Future
Spiegel ^ | 8/5/08 | By Anne Seith

Posted on 08/05/2008 5:24:53 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin

Recent strikes in Germany prove what many experts have long been warning: Labor unions in the country are fragmenting. Mini-organizations representing specialized employees are making strikes more frequent and more complex than ever.

Revolution is in the air at Lufthansa: Last week's five-day strike by ground staff had hardly ended before 5,000 pilots, organized in the union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), began planning the next work stoppage. They want to see pilots working for Lufthansa affiliates receive pay hikes and are also fighting to create their own works council. A warning strike is planned for sometime in the next few days despite Lufthansa threats of legal action against the union should pilots walk out.

But that's not all. Some Lufthansa ground workers are unhappy with the deal recently negotiated by the giant service union Ver.di and are threatening to vote down the compromise deal hammered out late last week. Indeed, airplane mechanics in Munich are so disgusted with the agreement that they are weighing a split from Ver.di. Their mini-organization, known as Vereinigung Boden and made up of some 1,000 workers, was against Ver.di's Lufthansa strategy from the very beginning. A further group known as UFO, which represents Lufthansa's cabin personnel, has likewise voiced opposition to the Ver.di deal. The group's own labor agreement expires at the end of the year and UFO plans to ignore the terms negotiated by Ver.di and fight for a 15 percent pay raise of their own.

In short, Lufthansa is facing a labor situation that is nothing less than chaotic. But it is also one that managers of other large companies would be wise to study, says German labor union expert Horst-Udo Niedenhoff. Lufthansa's current troubles, he says, provide an insight into the future of the German labor market.

(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: euro; union; unions

1 posted on 08/05/2008 5:24:54 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
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To: DeaconBenjamin

The Dems want us to make us another Germany. State socialism and Labor Unions run amok. Obama will see to it.


2 posted on 08/05/2008 5:26:13 AM PDT by SolidWood (Obamarxislamism, the threat to our Republic!)
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