GERMANY: Strikes in four car plants push for shorter work week in east
Germany's biggest industrial union staged strikes on Monday in four car plants to press for a shorter work week in the country's formerly communist east, Bloomberg News said. The targets were three Volkswagen plants and an Opel factory. VW and General Motors say they cannot afford to meet the demand.
Germany’s biggest industrial union staged strikes on Monday in four car plants to press for a shorter work week in the country’s formerly communist east, Bloomberg News said.
The targets were three Volkswagen plants and an Opel factory.
VW and General Motors say they cannot afford to meet the demand.
Factory workers in the economically depressed east get the same weekly base pay as their western counterparts, but must work longer hours — 38 hours a week instead of 35 — because firms say they can’t afford the same labour costs as in the more affluent west, the report said.
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