European crisis; Germany and the role of its trade unions
European crisis: Germany and the role of the trade unions
Germany is usually presented in the mainstream media as having successfully weathered Europe’s vast economic crisis while German Chancellor Angel Merkel from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has gained enormous influence on the European political and financial scene.
By contrast, in protests across Greece, Spain and other countries hit hardest by the crisis references about
Germany as the “Fourth Reich” are increasingly being voiced. Inside the country ordinary working people are made to think that their taxes are paying for the debts of the southern European countries, caused, according to the tabloid media, by lazy Mediterranean workers who never meet their tax obligations.
What role, if any, have Germany’s unions played in fighting these myths of Merkel, the CDU and the
German gutter press like Bild?
Capital 5, Labour 0
In 2000-01, at the time of the dot.com financial crisis, the first coalition government of the SocialDemocratic Party (SPD) and Greens (the so called Red-Green coalition) was in office, elected in 1998 during times of economic growth.
In the context of that crisis and of revelations about the “ineffectiveness” of the social security system, the government set up a commission, led by former Volkswagen AG human resources director Peter Hartz, to develop recommendations for changes that would help halve the 4 million registered unemployed within four years.
At the time the unemployment rate in Germany was 10.8%, made up of 8.5% in the western states and
19.2% in the eastern states. By June 2012, it was 6.6%, with an additional 8.8% of under-employed people, covering those unemployed engaged in compulsory “one euro job” schemes and those who are unemployed but enrolled in further education programs.
The Hartz commission consisted of representatives from Germany’s big corporations, such as
DaimlerChrystler, Volkswagen, BASF and Deutsche Bank, along with two union
Germany is usually presented in the mainstream media as having successfully weathered Europe’s vast economic crisis while German Chancellor Angel Merkel from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has gained enormous influence on the European political and financial scene.
By contrast, in protests across Greece, Spain and other countries hit hardest by the crisis references about
Germany as the “Fourth Reich” are increasingly being voiced. Inside the country ordinary working people are made to think that their taxes are paying for the debts of the southern European countries, caused, according to the tabloid media, by lazy Mediterranean workers who never meet their tax obligations.
What role, if any, have Germany’s unions played in fighting these myths of Merkel, the CDU and the
German gutter press like Bild?
Capital 5, Labour 0
In 2000-01, at the time of the dot.com financial crisis, the first coalition government of the SocialDemocratic Party (SPD) and Greens (the so called Red-Green coalition) was in office, elected in 1998 during times of economic growth.
In the context of that crisis and of revelations about the “ineffectiveness” of the social security system, the government set up a commission, led by former Volkswagen AG human resources director Peter Hartz, to develop recommendations for changes that would help halve the 4 million registered unemployed within four years.
At the time the unemployment rate in Germany was 10.8%, made up of 8.5% in the western states and
19.2% in the eastern states. By June 2012, it was 6.6%, with an additional 8.8% of under-employed people, covering those unemployed engaged in compulsory “one euro job” schemes and those who are unemployed but enrolled in further education programs.
The Hartz commission consisted of representatives from Germany’s big corporations, such as
DaimlerChrystler, Volkswagen, BASF and Deutsche Bank, along with two union