Labor struggles have a long tradition in Germany. Over time, they have not only focused on the demand for better working conditions, but have also been linked - albeit in a rather shy form at the beginning - to the anti-racist and anti-fascist struggle. Within the trade union political education programs, right-wing agitation was increasingly countered with a realistic picture of asylum and migration policy after the "Summer of Migration" in 2015.
An important trigger for labor disputes is collective bargaining between employers and unions. Unions often demand higher wages and better working conditions, while employers try to keep costs low. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, strikes or other collective action may take place. Labor disputes in Germany can take various forms, including strikes, demonstrations, boycotts, factory occupations, and other forms of civil disobedience. In some cases, labor struggles can also turn violent, but this is rare.
In the collective bargaining in 2023, the inadequate offers of the employers caused great unrest among the workers. In March, one of the biggest strikes in recent years took place. The service company Ver.di and the railroad and transport union (EVG) called a total of around 350,000 employees in various sectors across Germany to a 24-hour warning strike. The strike affected the entire transport sector, including public transport, rail, airports, ports and locks. More than 30,000 employees took part in strike action at 350 locations.
► The EVG is demanding wage increases totaling twelve percent for a period of one year, but at least 650 euros as a "social component." More than 50 rallies were held throughout Germany during the day. ► In Potsdam, the Ver.di union entered collective bargaining for around 2.4 million public sector employees. The union is demanding 10.5 percent. The employers are offering a total wage increase of five percent for a period of 27 months and a tax-free one-off payment of 2,500 euros to compensate for inflation. The workers' indignation spreads and leads to further protests.
Employers have a tool called arbitration. A procedure that has been agreed since 2011 and is still being negotiated to achieve a result. During conciliation, there is a peace obligation. However, this does not begin until three days after negotiations have failed. Strikes are to be expected during this period.
The trade unions' restraint grew as the openly fascist wing of the AfD grew stronger. After a young man of color, died in a fight with an Iraqi refugee in Chemnitz in August 2018, right-wing thugs organized hunts and attacks on migrants. Large parts of the AfD leadership demonstrated with violence-prone Neonazis. They showed they have the same goal: To use violence to create an ethnically and culturally cleansed Germany. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer legitimized the violence by saying migration was the "mother of all problems." Many media outlets joined in the agitation. The police did nothing against the racist attacks.
Another obstacle to an offensive counter-mobilization in the trade unions was the AfD's self-dramatization as the "party of the little people," due to the above-average approval by workers, the unemployed, and trade union members for the party in the 2016 and 2017 state and federal elections. After the so-called summer of migration in 2015 (when the Federal Republic of Germany took in almost one million people seeking protection from the war-torn and crisis-ridden countries of the Middle East), the political education program of the trade unions intensified its efforts to counter the agitation from the right with a realistic view of the causes of flight and migration. With the seminar series "Facts not Populism" on asylum and migration policy, for example, ver.di is primarily targeting trainees and young employees.
This awareness was missing in the trade unions before. From now on, the independent racist character of the AfD party was more frequently emphasized as a threat and downgrading of the migrant members of the unions. As a helpful maxim for action, the trade unions have the slogan "Opposition and open door": Opposition against the right and fighting together against reactionary. It also means working together for solidarity-based solutions to social problems. This can have an effect at the trade union and workplace level in four core areas.
Story-telling: Dario Azzellini , Illustration: Carina Crenshaw
This is a graphic story-telling inspired by the article "From Symbolism to Practice. German Unions Need to Support Anti-Racism in the Fight Against the Dangers of the Right" by Romin Khan, which was published in the anthology "If Not Us, Who? Global workers against authoritarianism, fascism, and dictatorships" (external link, opens in a new window) by Dario Azzellini.
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