If it doesn’t rain, it pours. With the current economic turmoil happening in the European Union (EU), there lies a possibility of the dissolution of the European Union (EU) - we hope not. But with the advent of an unhappy automaker Union in Germany, it seems things couldn’t get any worse – even if Germany has begun showing signs of slowing growth.
<!--more-->For the love of German precision engineering, the lack of cars may not be too much of a problem for us, but rather the spare parts that are churned out of those German factories.
Currently, German auto workers are known to be one of the highest paid in the industry, but IG Metall (Europe’s largest Industrial Union) is now looking to stand their ground on certain issues pertaining to wages and the number of temporary staffs employed both domestically and internationally by the likes of Porsche, BMW and Daimler.
Such use of temporary workers in the international arena are able to help German automakers increase production without increasing union membership and as such, allows them to save on costs.
There have already been five rounds of discussions that have proved somewhat unproductive as IG Metall has taken a 3% wage wages and thrown it out the window; adamant that they receive a 6.5% increase instead. On top of that, they are also seeking to maintain a certain quota or ‘cap’ on the total number of temporary works used.
It seems things are getting a little more dicier with a high chance that the Union may be gearing up for an all-out strike. Lets hope things don’t get too out of hand any time soon.
Source: TheDetroitBureau.com
