01
Enforcing the law
We uphold the rights of workers whose atypical forms of employment or socially stigmatised occupations are often overlooked.
Gewerkschaft Underdog
Our Mission
We are the ones nobody expected.
Who we are
Trade union work where it is most needed.
We carry out trade union work in areas where the Works Constitution Act and collective agreements take a back seat in terms of their significance. We confront a reality of economic life in which it is increasingly regarded as normal to flout the law.
We uphold the rights of workers whose rights are all too often overlooked. We uphold the rights of workers whose atypical forms of employment are often disregarded. We uphold the entitlements of workers whose occupations are socially stigmatised.
02
Protect the social security system
If social costs have to be paid from local authority coffers without any social security contributions coming in, this undermines our social system and the financial leeway of our local authorities.
03
Fair pay
Since the 1970s, wage growth has failed to keep pace with increases in productivity. Our business model is not a low-wage model. Purchasing power is the foundation of our prosperity.
Employers’ Responsibilities
Obligations that do not lapse.
Employers are responsible for paying the wages owed, deducting income tax, the payment of total social security contributions, the payment of levies, the insurance of workers with the relevant employers’ liability insurance association, as well as the provision of a proper workplace and the necessary work equipment.
We do not believe that a business should be closed down if it is still able to meet its obligations. Nor do we believe that employees should waive their entitlements without receiving something in return for their capital contribution towards the financing of a company.
We do not believe that the duties of a collection agency are being fulfilled in the best sense if the collection of contributions is carried out in such a way as to file for insolvency as quickly as possible. We believe that a collection agency has a role to play until every effort has been made to ensure that workers benefit from the successful collection of all social security contributions.
Fair Competition
Competition must not be at the expense of workers.
Our social system represents a cultural achievement whose value cannot be overestimated. We, too, recognise that there are some serious shortcomings in this social system. We understand employers who groan under the burden of bureaucracy. However, the consequence cannot be to ignore the rights of workers.
To employers who therefore face insurmountable competitive disadvantages, we suggest that they name the competitors who are gaining unfair competitive advantages at the expense of workers.
Purchasing Power and Prosperity
Not a low-wage country.
We are also convinced that a fair wage must be paid. This is lacking in today’s wages, which have failed to keep pace with productivity growth since the 1970s.
Our business model in Germany is not that of a low-wage country. Our business model is to offer the world products with such outstanding qualities that the world is prepared to pay such high prices for them that we can finance our high standard of living. We have some catching up to do when it comes to selling our products domestically. This requires that we do not erode workers’ purchasing power.
For the benefit of the majority and the protection of minorities
Those accused of laziness.
We live in a time when social benefits are being cut, workers’ rights are being declared a problem, and a population of 85 million people – which generates the third-largest gross domestic product among the world’s economies – is being accused of laziness. In contrast, wealth tax is said to be unconstitutional, inheritance tax is waived if an estate comprises more than 300 flats, income from capital gains is generally subject only to ‘25 %’ tax, and the factories that no longer manufacture competitive products for the automotive industry are located in China anyway and have nothing to do with the labour market in Germany.
When people work part-time, they may be doing work that they would not be able to do as part of a full-time role. And if someone wishes to get by on less money and, for that reason, does not want to work full-time, it is not the government’s role to compel them to work. Rather, companies facing labour shortages may decide to offer such good working conditions – and, in particular, such good pay – that this increases people’s willingness to work for them. Anything else amounts to structural slavery, must not be allowed to happen and will never work.
And if, despite all willingness to work, there is still a labour shortage from the government’s perspective, then this would be a further reason not to impose a ban on working on thousands of people in Germany. Just as it is an investment in our future when we spend money to ensure that migration leads to the best possible integration into our society.
Our contribution
Enforcing rights.
Our contribution is to ensure that workers’ rights are upheld. A company must fulfil its obligations as an employer towards the people who work in its premises. A company is not exempt from this simply because workers have an irregular residence status, are subject to a work ban, lack documentation of their employment contract terms, Workers are unable to assert their claims on their own due to the excessive complexity of rules and procedures, or are so desperately in need of an income that they accept pay below the statutory minimum.
Income and Wealth Distribution | Democracy
The market does not regulate everything.
The current unequal distribution of income and wealth in our country is no longer compatible with the interests of democracy, the maintenance of social harmony, or the need for a state capable of acting thanks to its financial leeway.
No, the market does not regulate everything. And nowhere have we stipulated that this must be the case. We have a highly developed economy in which it is already considered a success if we achieve 2 % growth. This contrasts with bond market yields of 4 %. The difference between these percentages alone already results in a continuous worsening of inequality.
No market mechanisms come into play here. Government action is required here. Inequality is not the result of fate, but of deliberate political action. The aim here is to address the concerns of workers. In the interests of everyone, in the interests of workers, in the interests of the super-rich – who surely cannot wish to see deep social divisions – and in the interests of our community.
We are the ones nobody expected.