Workers unions were a partial block to the wealth and power of the elites. But attacks on union began in earnest in 1947 with the Taft-Hartley Act and have continued to this day. Post WW II German leaders knew that the rise of the Nazi Party was financed by the wealthiest men of their country and their deal with Hitler was that they woul…
Workers unions were a partial block to the wealth and power of the elites. But attacks on union began in earnest in 1947 with the Taft-Hartley Act and have continued to this day. Post WW II German leaders knew that the rise of the Nazi Party was financed by the wealthiest men of their country and their deal with Hitler was that they would support him and take workers' wages to fund a slush fund for party leaders and in return Hitler would ban all unions.
So the post war German leaders enacted legislation to force codetermiation that requires workers have a representative on company boards. The law allows workers to elect representatives (usually trade union representatives) for almost half of the supervisory board of directors. The legislation is separate from the main German company law Act for public companies, the Aktiengesetz. It applies to public and private companies, so long as there are over 2,000 employees. For companies with 500–2,000 employees, one third of the supervisory board must be elected. As a result skilled jobs are not exported to other countries. Democracy starts or ends in the workplace.
Workers unions were a partial block to the wealth and power of the elites. But attacks on union began in earnest in 1947 with the Taft-Hartley Act and have continued to this day. Post WW II German leaders knew that the rise of the Nazi Party was financed by the wealthiest men of their country and their deal with Hitler was that they would support him and take workers' wages to fund a slush fund for party leaders and in return Hitler would ban all unions.
So the post war German leaders enacted legislation to force codetermiation that requires workers have a representative on company boards. The law allows workers to elect representatives (usually trade union representatives) for almost half of the supervisory board of directors. The legislation is separate from the main German company law Act for public companies, the Aktiengesetz. It applies to public and private companies, so long as there are over 2,000 employees. For companies with 500–2,000 employees, one third of the supervisory board must be elected. As a result skilled jobs are not exported to other countries. Democracy starts or ends in the workplace.