greek_philosophizer@hotmail.com (greek_philosophizer) haute in die
Tasten:

Actually there was not much downtime due to a strike. It was a big
surprise for the mangement, that not only the workers in Sindelfingen
took part at demonstrations, but also the workers in Bremen. Bremen is
located in northern germany, and they ave a different contract, so that a
Bremen worker earns less than a Sindelfingen worker. Schremmp had
demanded cost-cuts of a total amount of 500 Mio. Euro (approx. 600 Mio
USD) for the Sindelfingen plant, otherwise the next generation C-class
should be assemblied in Bremen and South Africa. There was quite a public
uproar about the fact that the same management which demands cost cuts
from the workers, had massive raises in their payment over the last
years. This fact accelerated a nation-wide discussion about the fair
level of manager wages in Germany. German authorities demand from large
companies (those which are based on stocks, which are traded at the stock
exchange) to voluntarily publish the salary of their managers separately
for each person. Up to now these companies only publish the money spent
for the whole management. If the companies will not cooperate, the
government plans to issue a new law.

The negotiations about the Sindelfingen plant lead to the results that
the workers will lose some money and some privileges, and that the
management will also voluntarily give away some money (which will not
hurt any of them). In return the management promised to have the new C-
class manufactured in Sindelfingen again. This is regarded as a victory
for Mr. Schremmp and a loss for the workers union.

Plain question: Would you spend 40.000 bucks for a car made in South
Africa?

Frank