Following the strike in southern Europe on November 14: The beginning, but of what? 
"Many millions of people took part in the strike: in Portugal, in Spain, in Greece, in Italy, in Cyprus and in Belgium. In all sectors of the economy: in the public sector, in manufacturing and industry and in the service sector. Many millions of people taking to the streets to demonstrate their opposition to murderous austerity. Murderous, literally; Many in Spain and in Greece have committed suicide; not only their homes, but their lives taken from them." Balance of the Redaktion of LabourNet Germany, 11-21 
Daimler-Chrysler's Freightliner LLC in den USA
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Presentation of Mercedes Daimler Stuttgart Worker Tom Adler At Freightliner Five Cleveland , North Carolina Rally on 5/9/2008
"Brothers and sisters, first of all let me thank you for the overwhelmingly warm welcome you gave me and I am sure: this is a welcome from all our German colleagues and rank-and file unionists of Daimler committed to international solidarity with your struggle for justice for the freightliner5!..." Die komplette (englische) Rede von Tom Adler vom 09.05.2008bei unseren KollegInnen vom amerikanischen LaborNet  
Regulated burden-sharing ?
Wolfgang Schaumberg on the global strategy of the DGB and the IGM
leadership.
EUROPE: Where is the European Labor Movement?
"In March the European Union (EU) celebrated its 50th anniversary. The signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957 served as the inspiration for the end of a war-torn divided Europe and the beginning of political and economic unity for a new Europe . The birthday took place in Berlin , the post-unification capital city of Germany whose government has assumed the rotating presidency of the EU for the next six months. Angela Merkel, the first woman chancellor of Germany and a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said " Europe has reached more in 50 years than we Europeans could have ever wished." Her motto for Germany 's EU presidency: "succeeding together."." Article by Benjamin Weinthal published in Z-Magazine from June 2007
Out of the deadlock! The Seafarers Union ITF – Forerunner of Global Union
“Against locational competition and wage dumping: Trade Unions on the Global Stage!” Two panels organisied by the initiators of the international labour call in cooperation with ver.di, DGB-Jugend, BaSo, LabourNet Germany. Input to the trade unionist discussion meeting at the alternative summit, Rostock june 6 2007 by Werner Sauerborn , ver.di / international unionists call
German Trade Unions and Right Extremism: The Political Attitudes of the Membership - Selected Results from a Research Project
Paper prepared for presentation at the 15th Conference of Europeanists Chicago, March 30 – April 2, 2006 by Dr. Michael Fichter , Free University Berlin, Otto-Suhr-Institute of Political Science, Center for Labor Relations. Out of the Introduction: “…Trade unions in Germany are unquestionably at the political forefront in condemning all manifestations of right extremism. But they are still “terra incognita” as far as research on right extreme attitudes within their own ranks is concerned. For many years, trade union membership and the existence of a “trade union consciousness” were considered to have an immunizing effect on such attitudes. However, more recent research on the causes and development of right extreme beliefs within the German population at large has argued that union members do not differ in their attitudes from non-union members (mirror image hypothesis) and as such are just as susceptible to right extremism as non-members. Nevertheless, neither the immunity hypothesis nor the mirror-image hypothesis has ever been convincingly tested on an empirically broad basis among union members…”
The German Way: Still Treading the Path of Institutionalized Labour Relations?
Article by Dr. Michael Fichter (2005) : The German Way. Still Treading the Path of Institutionalized Labor Relations?, in: Stefan Beck/Frank Klobes/Christoph Scherrer (eds.): Surviving Globalization? Perspectives for the German Economic Model, Dordrecht: Springer.
Something's Rotten in Germany, Inc.
The Siemens scandal just keeps getting deeper. Authorities on Tuesday took a board member into custody on suspicion of irregular payments. The case, say German commentators, shows that corruption is systemic at one of Germany's biggest companies…” Article at Spiegel-Magazine from March 28, 2007
Siemens under investigation for alleged payments to AUB union
" Nuremberg prosecutors are investigating Siemens AG for allegedly paying 14.75 mln eur to an official of the AUB Independent Labour Representation union, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported without citing its source.
Siemens declined to comment on the matter when contacted by the newspaper, stating that it had not been informed about the details of the investigation, and added that it does not comment on ongoing investigations.
Union leader Wilhelm Schelsky''s attorney, Juergen Lubojanski, said his client is cooperating with investigators.
Last month a judicial official said Schelsky had been arrested in connection with raids at Siemens and the AUB.
The AUB is a smaller rival to the dominant IG Metall labour union." Complete Report from AFX news at
13/3/2007
Where Is the German Trade Union Movement and Where Is It Going?
"Germany is the world's leading exporter and the third largest industrial economy, following Japan and the United States. German multi-nationals are drowning in supreme opulence, yet the wages of German workers remain severely depressed. The Wall Street Journal, engaging in low-intensity class struggle labor journalism, confirmed in its January article "German Unions See Leverage in Pay Fight": "there is little question that German workers have lost ground. Labor costs rose 10% from 2000 to 2006, the smallest increase of any country in the European Union and far below the bloc's 22% jump during that period." There is, moreover, less strike activity in this highly unionized country than in France and the United States, both of whose union density rates remain significantly lower than that of Germany. The pressing question is, why is militant union consciousness, especially in light of a booming German economy, not on the radar screen? A cynical commentator might flirt with what might be interpreted as socially and politically incorrect jokes about the so-called "national character" of Germany. For example, why did a social revolution not occur in Germany? The word revolution is verboten (prohibited). Or what did German workers do before attempting to occupy a train station? They purchased their entry tickets before seizing the station. However, as the British historian Ian Kershaw has shown, the German working class was, before Hitler leveraged himself into power in 1933, the most class- and union-conscious group of workers in the industrialized world. Thus a kind of Pavlovian, docile reaction to the employer's demand is not a product of a nebulous national character, rather an impediment resulting from the failure to grasp the still relevant concept of class struggle and competing class interests..." Article by Benjamin Weinthal published at Monthly Review at 21/02/07
Out of the headlock!
Ten theses about the role of trade unions in the global economy. Article by Werner Sauerborn ,
Stuttgart / March 2005
"Fighting the myth of competition and challenging the trade union response"
Article by the colleagues of the "Standort" Group of Opel in Bochum from 5/9/1995
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