Re:German Union Steps Up Fight for ‘Modern’ 28-Hour Workweek
by alkonaut on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @10:19AM
(#16214208)
> Companies in Germany don't have to be part of a union.
That's the case in scandinavia too, but there it's "optional" (scare quotes intentional). In Sweden for example, if you open up a factory and refuse to have a union agreement with your workers, you'll find that your deliveries might not come, or your trash might not be picked up (for example), as unions (including OTHER unions entirely) will try to force the employer to make a union agreement. The law makes those kinds of actions legal.
In germany there are other examples such as unions having guaranteed seats in the boardrooms of companies, to ensure the same kind of balance.
It's mostly big auto companies that are unionized. They know that a) They can't attract the talent they want with worse conditions than all their competitors, b) it makes it easier to negotiate, because you're not negotiating with every employee, only one union, c) it indirectly puts a cap on what they're paying engineers. Engineers wages would probably be much higher if the big companies weren't unionized. With the union, you get the same raises as anybody else, but on a higher salary level. d) They can just put you on a salary level that they deem appropriate and you don't have much way of rising up.