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NEWS & LETTERS, March 2004Strikes in Germany blunt class struggleSince January the German trade union for the metal and electronics industries (IG Metall) has been on strike for higher wages. Thousands of workers, mainly in the auto industry and on the docks, followed IG Metall’s call by going out on strike for 10 days in January and February. The climax came on Feb. 5 when 90,000 workers left their workplaces. The strikes were still occurring as of late February. It is important to note that these are largely "warning strikes"-- that is, each strike is only for a few hours a day. The results so far have been modest. Under the collective-wage system in Germany, agreements must be made between IG Metall and the organization of entrepreneurs for these industries (Gesamtmetall) in each collective bargaining area. So far an agreement in one bargaining unit has been completed, in Baden-Württemberg, where the largest plants of Daimler-Chrysler are located: It calls for wages to increase by 2.45% over 27 months, which is not even equal to the rate of inflation. ‘GERMAN SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP’ In addition, IG Metall and Gesamtmetall agreed to allow bargaining parties at each factory to increase or reduce working hours without compensatory wage increases, thereby canceling overtime premiums and special bonuses. The aim of this is to prevent layoffs. Newspapers like the BILD-ZEITUNG--a newspaper with the largest circulation in Germany--have applauded the agreement as "a sparkle of German social partnership.” IG Metall is now trying to extend this agreement to other collective bargaining areas. This should not be difficult, because of the modest rise in workers’ wages and the attack on the principle of area-bound labor agreements by the entrepreneurs. Only those who want the area-bound system to be completely annulled are disappointed, like some members of the Christian Democratic Party, the Liberals and one of the most conservative newspapers, the FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG. Trade unions all over the world have to play their role within the capitalistic game if they want to be powerful. But in Germany the trade unions have traditionally been important pillars of capitalistic domination. They followed the policy of strict consensus (Burgfrieden) during World War I, and agreements with entrepreneurs undermined revolutionary moments in 1918-19. Above all was the consolidation of powers (Gleichschaltung) during the Nazi period. The German trade union movement was also largely indifferent to the revolts of 1968 and even condemned wildcat strikes. The trade unions in Germany remain big and powerful. (IG Metall has about 2.5 million members, while the national labor federation, the DGB, has 7.5 million.) But despite their power, they are trapped in the tradition of a post-National Socialist, social partnership. This is not meant as a characterization only of institutions and their leaders, but of a "German ideology” which concerns the whole population. There is a left-wing trade union movement (see www.labournet.de), but it is ridiculously lacking in offensive approaches when compared with trade unions in France, Spain or Italy. Needless to say, the German form of capitalism today is much more differentiated than in the period of National Socialism and its differences with other countries are less evident than in previous periods, not least because the "German model” has been exported to other countries. In times of prosperity the trade unions’ task of class compromise is easier to perform than in times of crisis, which is more or less the case in Germany today. Today’s crisis is reflected in everyone’s permanent fear of losing their social and economic basis and of the termination of "social peace." At this point the trade unions are participating in the difficult job of administrating misery. DIVISIONS IN FAILED STRIKE Last summer IG Metall directly encountered these fears when it called for a strike to demand a 35-hour work week in eastern Germany. (There are still major differences in labor rules between the so-called new and old federal states in Germany.) The strike ended with a total defeat of the trade unions. Workers in western Germany did not strongly support this strike and even many workers in eastern Germany gave up, fearing the loss of their jobs. A furious public also condemned the strike. The popular former prime minister of Baden-Württemberg, Lothar Späth, openly proclaimed: "End the class struggle!" At the same time, opposition outside the trade unions against neo-liberal reforms of the welfare state--deregulation of the job market, less unemployment insurance, and a decline of health insurance--is becoming more radical. On Nov. 1 almost 100,000 people in various political groups demonstrated against the policies of the Social Democrats and the Greens. But still the dominating actors, like the large European-wide anti-globalization campaign, are fighting against "big money,” "Americanization” and for the traditional (German) model of the welfare state. The struggle against capitalism is still not on the agenda in Germany. --Simon Birnbaum |
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