Germany: fracture lines between business and unions over flexibility and protection levels in the context of digitalization are clearly drawn

The Chancellor gathered the relevant social partners and Ministers together at the Meseberg Chateau (north of Berlin) for the 6th session on “discussions on the future”, focusing on the economy and digitalization. The two main employers bodies brought along their “paper” outlining their positions on the issue. Planet Labor has been able to obtain a copy. In it they underline gains in flexibility, that a new labor regulations framework should be set at European level, and the desire to curb union influence over both digitalization of businesses as well as protection levels for new types of work status à la “crowd workers”. Faced with these quite offensive ideas, the social partners are warning against a vision of how the working world will develop that may tranform “each employee into a mini entrepreneur” and landmine social standards and potentially employment protection.
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1 in 12 jobs threatened by automation. A month and a half after the start of national dialogue over the future of labor in the digital work (c.f. article No. 9039) Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Labor Minister Andréa Nahles invited the large employers and union bodies to come round the table for talks on June 04 at the Meseberg chateau. The underlying idea is to prepare today’s working world for what will be an increased reliance on computer and telecommunications technology at all levels of

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