My German is not great, so I'll post the full text of the article. It sounds like 12,000 employees are on strike at the Sindelfingen plant in protest of planned cutbacks at DC. The production line is at a stand-still. I wonder how this will affect the build-date of my car (scheduled 7/22)?

"Autoproduktion bei Daimler stand still

Bei DaimlerChrysler in Sindelfingen standen am Samstag die Bänder still. Um gegen die geplanten Sparmaßnahmen zu protestieren, kamen 12.000 Mitarbeiter nicht zur Arbeit.

Nach Angaben einer Betriebsratssprecherin wurden dadurch rund 1.000 Autos nicht produziert. DaimlerChrysler will jährlich 500 Millionen Euro in den deutschen Werken einsparen. Der Konzern macht Neuinvestitionen von den Kostensenkungen abhängig. Der Gesamtbetriebsrat hatte Einsparungen in Höhe von 180 Millionen Euro angeboten.

Zudem signalisierte der Betriebsrat am Wochenende Gesprächsbereitschaft bei Arbeitszeitverlängerungen. "Wir sind in den Bereichen Forschung und Entwicklung, Produktionsplanung und einigen Bereichen der Zentrale zur Einführung der 40-Stunden-Woche bereit, wenn die Mehrarbeit bezahlt wird", sagte der Vorsitzende des Gesamtbetriebsrates, Erich Klemm, der "Welt am Sonntag".

Das Angebot, die wöchentliche Arbeitszeit auszudehnen, gelte aber nicht für die Produktion. Die Beschäftigten könnten sich freiwillig für die längere Arbeitszeit entscheiden. Nach Informationen der "Welt am Sonntag" ist ein weiteres Gespräch zwischen Vorstand und Betriebsrat für den kommenden Dienstag geplant.

Nach Betriebsratsangaben sind 10.000 Stellen bei DaimlerChrysler in Gefahr. Der Konzern spricht von 6.000 Stellen, die durch die Neuinvestitionen gesichert werden könnten. Am kommenden Donnerstag sind alle DaimlerChrysler-Mitarbeiter in Deutschland von der IG Metall zu Protesten aufgerufen worden. Der Konzern will nach Betriebsratsangaben unter anderem Pausen streichen und Schichtzuschläge kürzen."

 

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=5682066

-Karl

 

Wow!!! 60,000 protestors against DaimlerChrysler! That's a lot!

 

http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,336...06_1_A,00.html

 

Geez angry employees.. I would not want a car from there right now..

 

Wow, that and the planned elimination of the 4-year free service is not a good combo.

 

Among other issues, moving from a 35 hour week to a 40 hour week is up for discussion. Also, DCAG is hinting at moving work from the current higher paid employees further east in Europe where labor costs are considerably lower.

 

My thoughts exactly! Yours truly has car slated for production before July 31.

 

According to this:

http://kevxml2a.verizon.net/_1_2PCNT...&feed=ap&top=1

Seems like the labor force isn't thinking to clearly here!

No one ever gains while out picketing!

 

MB is probably desperate to improve the terms of their labor contracts. Since mid-2000, the USD:EUR exchange rate has deteriorated from about 1:0.91 to about 1:1.24. In simplistic terms, that would mean that Euro-zone products cost about 36% more now in the US and the US represents, what, 40-50% of MB's market. There seems to be no end in sight since rates have been above 1:1.20 for most of 2004. Germany has some of the most generous social welfare programs in the world despite unemployment rates which have consistently been in the 9.0%+ range for the last several years (5.6% in the US). Social security, health insurance, and unemployment taxes are roughly 40% in Germany, split equally between employer and employee (about 10% for the US employer for social security and unemployment only). In general, once hired, it is very difficult to lay off or fire an employee although some of the laws have been relaxed in recent years. One of the effects of this is for employers to avoid hiring people which only exacerbates the unemployment prolem. Although Germans have a good work ethic and are well trained due to excellent educational and apprenticeship programs, they also have very generous benefits which makes them very expensive workers. By law (or custom with almost the force of law) they get 15-20 paid holidays per year (depending on the state of residence) and at least 4 weeks of paid vacation per year. They generally can and do refuse to work overtime. Even in non-union shops, work rules are fairly rigid especially as to working hours and cross-trade tasks. As the EU expands eastward, the problems will increase. For example, a few years ago, the average wage for an experienced computer programmer in Romania was $50 PER WEEK. As trade and capital movement barriers drop both within and without the EU, the pressure to lower labor costs is going to continue to increase. With the right labor force, you can build a car anywhere -- as MB, BMW and the Japanese have learned all too well. You don't need Japanese or Germans to build Japanese or German cars.

 

Wouldn't you agree that MBZ could build the car here for much less than in Germany?

 

I would think so but I don't pretend to know much about the economics of the automobile industry. From what I have heard, the experiences of Toyota, Honda, BMW and MB building cars in the US have all been positive - including the economics.

 

MB already assembles the M-class here - Alabama, no? Anyway, it is my opinion that they should be able to cut production costs adequately if they continue in the direction they’re headed towards Eastern Europe. It’s a shame that hard working union employees are being asked to sacrifice but it is for the ultimate survival (as I understand it) of the company and not greed. Something has to give somewhere and if it is a small sacrifice from all the parts for the better of the whole so be it. I can only hope that management personnel are also being asked to sacrifice.

 

The ML production plant is at Toscaloosa. One of the strike problems is that employes from Stuttgard work aprox 1.5 hours less (at on week) than the employes from the production plant at Sindelfingen! For the last days we had a lot of problems with the computer systems and a lot of clients where angry because their car isn't in production because of the strike! But we'll see...

 

I was told today by someone who came back from Germany last night that yesterday's European edition of USA Today reported that MB employees in Bremen work longer hours at less pay than those in Stuttgart and Sindelfingen. I know from personal experience that workers from the former East (Sachsen & Sachsen-Anhalt specifically) will work harder and for less money than those from the West. As you move further east, out of Germany, they are even hungrier, and now that they are joining the EU, the migration and trade barriers are falling. It's going to be real interesting over the next 5 to 10 years.

 

I think comparing the workers in Stuttgart v. workers in Sindelfingen isn't really a fair comparison, because generally their job functions are different. That's like comparing Honda employees in California v. those in Ohio... completely different jobs.

However, the Bremen factory is a fair comparo, except that it is closer to the former DDR and those workers are used to making less money.

Although workers from the former DDR may be hungrier and work harder for less money, from what I've seen, the work quality is not as high and they tend to be overall not as skilled.

These are just generalizations of course.

-s-

 

The 4-Matics are build in Osterreich, correct? Are they higher quality?

 

Yes, the plant at Graz in Österreich.

Some people claim the quality is there higher; but technically as a contractor to DCAG, Magna-Steyr (Daimler-Puch or whatever) may not employ exactly the same procedures.

I don't think my G-class had typically higher build quality; but I can't draw any conclusions from a sample set of one.

-s-

 

Details:
http://wardsauto.com/ar/auto_dc_germ...kers/index.htm

 

I wonder what Porsche and VW have experienced with their new plant in Leipzig. Has anybody else built plants in the former DDR? With differences in the quality of the work force, ultimately it could come down to the effectiveness of their quality control. I seem to recall hearing that, initially, Honda and Toyota had quality problems with their plants in Ohio and Kentucky, but now those plants are as good, if not better, than the ones in Japan. I also seem to recall reading that VW had quality issues with their plants in Mexico and Brazil but don't know what the outcome was.

 

the logical outcome of saying "wouldn't the car cost less if made elsewhere", is that all cars will eventually be made in china. forget that.

 

Good point. I believe there is a fine balance with employee/manufacturing happiness. China is not the long term answer. As for the former eastern bloc, their is a definite hunger with the work force and as more join the EU their status as a "player" in fab/mnfctr will increase.

 

http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,336...00.html?mpb=en

-Karl

 

Personally, I would like to see a lot of manufacturers have factories in Mexico. It would pump money into that country, and at least money going to Mexico has a better chance of coming back to the US in the form of tourist dollars.

Too bad the DCAG plant there now does not do automobiles. With quality control being increased, I bet the build and finish of those autos would be no different than any of the other factories (which I guess isn't necessarily a good thing).

-s-

 

"A day after striking workers shut down DaimlerChrysler plants in Sindelfingen and Untertürkheim to protest the company's attempts to squeeze labor costs, the carmaker's board members signaled they would sacrifice part of their own pay if workers agreed to a longer workweek. The Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported the top executives had offered to take a 10 percent cut in salary."

I still think they will move labor further east in Europe but nonetheless, I applaud management for such a bold move!