German Labor Unions - A better approach?

Thanks to Jan from @TeslaFix for filling us in on German labor unions, how they came about, and how they operate.

#unions #laborunion #germany #evs

[TeslaFix]

Thanks for having me! It was a lot of fun as always 😊

[DerkaSherpaDerka]

For 🇦🇺 full time workers we get a minimum of 4 weeks paid annual leave, at least 3 months full paid maternity leave (many will take 1/2 pay for 6 months) & up to 12 months unpaid leave on top of that. P

Paid paternity leave (not as much as mat leave) 12-14 paid public holidays per yr. (Depending on which state you live in)

We get 3 months long service leave for every 10yrs of continuous service.

Average work week is 38hrs (but expected to work more if you earn more $)

Oh and we pay people a living wage and don’t have that horrible tipping (eg state sanctioned begging) culture like in 🇺🇸

😊

[allenaxp]

In Germany, union dues typically range from 1% to 2% of a worker's gross income. For example, a worker earning €40, 000 per year would typically pay €400 to €800 in union dues per year.
In the USA, union dues typically range from 1% to 3% of a worker's gross income. However, some unions charge higher dues, and some unions charge lower dues. For example, the United Auto Workers (UAW) charges dues of 2.75% of a worker's gross income.

[machoopichoo]

Wow, only 5 paid vacay days total. Sorry to hear that. I knew things were skimpy in the US, but that's nuts.

[lesliecarter]

Unfortunately, Shawn Fain reminds me of Arthur Scargill who ran the NUM in the UK.

[jonevansauthor]

It's always weird to speak to American friends and find out just how awful everything is about working there. Minimum leave in the UK is 28 days including bank holiday, most of the EU is similar (but can have more) and it's normal for companies to offer more leave for longer service. Maternity and paternity leave are normalising, and all annual leave is paid leave. Healthcare is provided by the government for most situations in most European countries, and if you travel abroad on holiday and break your leg, you'll pay little or nothing due to the EHIC. We have agreements between countries to look after each others citizens, although tourists might pay a fee for an ambulance. Travel insurance, which every traveller should get regardless of origin or destination, will cover those costs anyway. Employers can't sack you from most jobs without good cause, and especially not once you've been there a while. If you are ill, you get paid sick leave according to what your doctor says, and the company must pay an amount set by the state (usually a proportion of your salary). Many companies would obviously offer more as contractual incentive.

All those things are not standard across the US as far as I can work out, yet Americans often sincerely think they're living the good life, the poor things. :(

[kevtheobald]

I do wonder if the recent partnerships with Xpeng and Leapmotors combined with the idling of the VW EV factory in Germany is setting them up to reduce staff in Germany and maybe building Xpeng or Leapmotors in Germany in the future if their partnership works.

I can only assume Tesla uses far less German labor than VW on a per vehicle average. Kind of how BYD uses far more workers than Tesla in China.

I would think VW would be willing to payoff the workers they do not need if they can streamline their EV production and if that reduces labor costs enough to make it logical to build in Germany for Xpeng and/or Leapmotors at the VW EV factory.

I can only imagine the initial shock the idea might bring many Germans building Chinese EVs in Germany, but if VW is to survive, they have to break away from certain norms.

I hope VW and their fellow German builders get their EV game together soon.

When I heard the statement on Lar's channel that VW is already to big to fail, but the question now is Germany strong enough to bailout VW if they wanted to do so? That really put a scary spin on what is going on there.

[normcfu]

Curiously, how much are union dues in Germany and USA? I know they're not the same for each union, but are they $100/month? More?

[MoreOnEVs]

What I would love to see is a law where the top executive compensation as a multiple of the median employee pay determines the tax rate of the business. They can pay executives less, or employees more, or pay a higher tax rate. Obviously the UAW cannot get what they are asking for, but they are not wrong to be frustrated by the increase in executive pay over the last decades. This has been the case in every industry in the US and the inequity needs to be addressed before the middle class dies out

[stephenleopold]

I thought the German union IG Metall which I understand is associated with your guests named union ver.di around the time Brandenburg was finally approving Tesla Berlin's opening was negotiating to represent GigaBerlin. IG Metall is big in metalworking and were very interested in Tesla's gigacasting. They believed that if they cooperated in its advancement, what your guest talked about the union wanting to save jobs, could allow misplaced workers to migrate to this "new" metalworking technology. It works for Tesla but once it's perfected could be applied to many metal manufacturing jobs. What do you think?

[grandman]

And you get automaticly yearly wage increase

[m_sedziwoj]

Simple question, are you sure you can be in union when you are co-owner of company? Because I think law prohibits it (conflict of interest), and having share of company is equal of be co-owner.

[glaubhafieber]

Walmart didn’t survive very long in Germany 😂