Since the beginning of time free thinking can be define as anyone who did not conform to status qua-wherever was social, political or any kind though outside, like Jews refusing to accept Christianity or Islam prescription of the Messiah or political moments from the right or left in19 century. The Blog follows the spirit of Spinoza which challenge not only his own Hebrew roots, but also Christianity with the tolerance of Montaigne. We dedicate this blog to all them were burn for dare to ask.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Transition Time
2013, can be consider a year in transition,
hundred years ago 1913, was previous year of the First World War (1914-1917),
by them Europe was set his path of Imperialism being one of the causes of the conflict which cover
most of the 20th century, ended with fall of Berlin wall. When FDR
provided a solution, to a crisis given by deregulated capitalism come from the
19th Century, Gilded Age, the
elites felt not need to respond or share any of accumulated wealth. By them the
radical workers moments in the period of WWI had suppress the IWW and
Anarchist, after Lenin establish the communist party in Russia as the rule of
the land, the elites did buckle and let Government
control, the Achilles of Capitalism is the tendency the wealth eventually will
end in the hand of the few.
The elites never accepted the Government
Regulation especially, since the working class in US with the promise of mobility
through education, through Government Programs or through the military, the
working class in US accepted this deal, in 1980´s Regan in US and Margaret in
US, began the dismantle this plan, in part to succeeded, they need the corrupt communist
society in Russia, to stop to become any signed of hope, with the collapse of
Berlin Wall, accelerated this transition, but the factors which created the
great depression, were recreated with the meltdown of 2008. The centralize control
of the state has not stop internal corruption, China is putting a land rover in
the moon, but the pollution in the air, poison the water and the food is
choking and killing the population, growth of cancer in China due to the pollution,
the cases in the developed world is reported to growth at 22%. On the hand, Capitalism
in US and Europe (Spain, U.K, Germany) the society is being transform into a Plutocratic
society, where in the US the education is outreach, the gain in this private
education systems is the access to become the decision makers, since through
taxes they get to decided who has the wealth, in general we are speaking to
groups they share some common similarity. Leaving outside many, the have
created a permanent underclass, and many ways they had set seed to a revolution.
To the 1990´s working in fats food, was for teen agers in high school, or Junior
college to have extra cash, but today is the only job, for many families.
While, the research and education is
supported by everyone, but through gate keepers, only few are beneficing,
leaving the many with not options. Capitalism has not fear anymore, of an alternative,
unleashing a brutality through economics and repressions, seeing U.K, Spain, Greece.
A corrupted centralizes state or
elite of the few having the benefice of the work of the society. The
alternative is to think on the negative, the anyone who can maintain power, not
matter good intentions, his or her interest become the main driving forgetting any
ideals, is not enough to limited time of serving, but system need to be
federal, decentralize, consensus driving. The economy is the wealth produced
but everyone, in any centralize socialist state or elite capitalism, through privilege
given but the rules protecting themselves, limiting anyone, property—especially,
private property, where the rules are set to protect the power of the few, when
through a change, where this privilege is rebuke, a society, where monies and
his transactions is abolished, so there is not more license for the few.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Labour Rigths In Germany
Dismissal: Any dismissal need a warning and
only serious cases need not need of any kind of warning. Independent of the sizes of the work place
any dismissal if you work in a place
less than six months you need two weeks in advance, and more than six months
you need 4 weeks.
Not payments of wages: If the employer has not pay for a
period (because Germany is a federal systems all the labor laws are different
from province to province), the employee can stop working and the employer have
to pay for the period of the stop work.
Health Insurance and
Pension: The
employer is obligated to pay for half of the health insurance and pensions.
Minimum wage: As mention before, there is not
minimum wage in Germany.
Breaks: After six hour of work there is an
entitlement of 30 minutes of brake and can be break in 15 minutes.
Overtime and night
shift: The employ
does not obligate to work overtime if is not agree in initial contract, the
work day is 8 hours (excluded the breaks), can be ask to work temporally up to
10 hours, but the day work cannot be more than 8 hours. Night shift consider over time, and can be
pay is a premium.
Freelance: The Freelancer most be pay a month
after the invoice is issue, and rights from health care and pensions does not
applied except if the employer get involved how the work is accomplished, the
is consider a employee.
Sick Pay: If employ is sick the employer most
pays up to six weeks, and after the health insurances pays a percent. The most
inform the employer immediately if you work 4 weeks and second day most have a
Medical referral.
Rest: Employee is entitling of 4 weeks
of pay leave a year, and most give 11 hours of rest between shifts. Sundays and
public holydays are days of rest except some sectors like hotels and
restaurants workers.
Parental Leave: Female employees cannot be fire
from the beginning of pregnancy until 4 months after the birth; in this case
the employer and the province cover the wages (dependent on the province). The employee can take last six weeks of the
pregnancy and must take pay leave for eight weeks. Both parents can take together 14 weeks of
maternity leave and paternity leaves after the birth, which receive a subsidize
(Provincial and Federal) and cannot be fire.
Germany Work Situation
Preunification
After the war lost by Germany, not just two
geographic region, where created but, two economic systems. West Germany with
Bohn his capital, the British started the development of the car industry, originally
was requested of Major Ivan Hirst to dismantle the VW today located in Lower
Saxony, the dismantle was part of the reparations, in the Russian side all the
heavy manufacture was ship to Russia, depriving eventually East Germany of any
heavy industry (The British interest in Lower Saxony was due: the Royal Family
line is come from Celle, Brunswick and prince electors of Hannover—Hitler being
an Austrian the city of Brunswick given him German citizen). Major Hirst
persuaded the British to produces 20,000 Trucks for the British Military, by
this fact restarted heavy industry in was to be West Germany.
A consequence of the war, the declined of
population in West Germany brought economic immigrants from Spain, Italy and
Turkey. Where in East Germany and more after the build of the wall any contact
with any foreign individual was consider treason with 10 years of incarceration.
Unification
In the unification period produce challenge the
Xenophobic attitude in East Germany because penalty foreign contact in early 1990´s
was manifest in race riots against Vietnamese in Rostock killing 90 asylum seekers,
where the local policy stood still as the immigrants house was burn with their
immigrants occupants. Late 1990´s the unemployment in Germany was 7.7% in the
west and 17% in the east (the average was 10% for Germany), in this period two
different scale payment where in the East the wage was 25% depress compare to
the west and creating an internal immigration, where the male population could
not adapted to the new conditions and 40% of East Germany females move to west,
since they had a better educations, in East many of the male where directed to
manual training skills. The German government invested to east by a solidarity
tax from the west. The unique structure
where elite have table with the syndicates give situation, where after WWII
Harald Quandt (the son of Güther Quandt and Magda Behrend Rietschel (Magda
Marry eventually Goebbles, the Minister propaganda) benefit
from the war profits of his father, in this National socialist period, 50,000
Jews Slave working in their factories. The Quandt invested in 200 Germany
companies and the tradition of the state with private firms, today despite the
European Union ruling not disinvestment, Lower Saxony own VW with Porshe
family.
History
Hartz reforms:
is a set of recommendations submitted by a commission on reforms to the Germany
labor market in 2002 to Socialist Prime Minister Gerhard Schröeder. The
Recommendations were named after the head of the commission, Peter Harz (was the human resources executive at the
German public company (VW), resigned: because corruption bogus real estate deal
with VW, specially Skoda in the Czech Republic; favors to members of the workers
council (Betriebsrat), specially the chairman of the workers council, Klaus
Volker resigned 30 June 2005); the use of prostitutes at the company's
expense in Brazil, sometimes in company-owned apartments and under the
influence of Viagra, which had been prescribed by the company's medical service)
these recommendations went on to become part of the German Government Agenda
2010, under Prime Minister Angela Merkel, the series of reforms, known as Hartz
I - Hartz IV. The committee devised thirteen "innovation modules",
which recommended changes to the German labour market system. These were then
gradually put into practice: The measures of Hartz I - III were undertaken
between January 1, 2003, and 2004, while Hartz IV was implemented on January 1,
2005.
Hartz I:
- The foundation of Staff Services agencies (Personal-Service-Agenturen or PSAs).
- Support for vocational further education from the German Federal Labour Agency.
- Subsistence payments by the Federal Labour Agency.
Hartz II:
- New types of employment, "Minijob" and "Midijob", with lower or gradually rising taxes and insurance payments (450 Euros not taxes), most to the employers offer this type of contract, since the contact does not included any benefice (vacation time, retirement).
- A grant for entrepreneurs, known as the "Ich-AG" (Me, Inc.).
- A rise in the number of job centers.
Hartz III
Hartz III came into effect on January 1, 2004.
This measure was aimed at restructuring and reforming Job Centers, in
preparation to Harz IVthe any welfare recipient, an after 3 years to 1 Euro per
hour job, as force suggestion, if the recipient did not accepted benefice are
cut.
Hartz VI
The fourth stage of the reform was voted in by
the parliament on December 16, 2003 and by July 9, 2004, to take effect by
January 1, 2005.
This part of the reforms brought together the
former unemployment benefits for long-term unemployed and the welfare benefits,
leaving them both at approximately the lower level of the former (social
assistance). The level for a single person was € 374 per month for a single
person. This was subsequently raised to € 382 per month, in 2013. Added to this
is the financial assistance with housing and health care. Couples can receive
benefits for each partner including their children.
Prior to 2005, between 12 and 36 months
(depending upon the claimant's age and work history) of their full unemployment
benefit (60 to 67% of the previous net salary) were followed by the unemployment
assistance, amounting to 53 to 57% of the last net salary. Since 2008, eligibility
for the full unemployment benefit has been restricted to 12 months in general,
15 months for those aged 50 or older, 18 months for those 55 or older and 24
months for those 58 or older.
Whether or not a claimant is eligible for
depends on his or her savings, life insurance and the income of spouse or
partner. If these assets are below a threshold level, a claimant can get money
from the state. The threshold level in July 2008 was €150 for free assets (at
least €3,100) and €250 for fixed retirement assets, both calculated per capita
and lifetime year. Additionally, every employable individual in a
communal household (persons living in and depending on the resources of the
claimant), can have one car worth about €7,500 and a self-used house of 130 square
meters living space (more if there are other people in the common household).
To receive payments, a claimant must agree to a
contract subject to public law. This contract outlines what they are obliged to
do to improve their job situation, and when the state is obliged to help. An
unemployed person may be required to accept any kind of legal job. This
compulsion is restricted by constitutional rights, like freedom of movement,
freedom of family, marriage and human dignity. If taking on a specific placement
is deemed reasonable by the responsible agency, not applying will result in a
reduction or even complete suspension of the appropriate payment.
Under this scheme, the state covers the health
insurance of the unemployed. Until the end of 2010, payments towards the
pension scheme of the claimant were also made. It is possible to earn income
from a job and receive benefits at the same time. Job income is debited from
payments according to a formula that leaves a certain amount of the additional
revenue untouched. These revenues are: a certain amount of savings (which
increases with age); €100 plus 20 percent of the wage up to €800 plus 10% of
the wage up to €1200 (up to €1500 if there are children). This is a sort of
minimum wage for employees without assets, where the minimum wage is not fully
paid by the employer but assured by the state. There are criticisms that this
defies competition and leads to a downward spiral in wages and the loss of
full-time jobs.
The Hartz IV reform merged the federal level unemployment
agency with the local level welfare administration. This facilitated a better,
case-oriented approach to helping unemployed people find work and improve their
situations. The plan's objective is to reduce caseloads from 400 unemployed
persons per agent to not more than 75 (aged 25 or less), or not more than 150
persons over the age of 25.
The Hartz IV reforms continue to attract
criticism in Germany, despite a considerable reduction in short and long term
unemployment. This reduction has led to some claims of success for the Hartz
reforms. Others say the actual unemployment figures are not comparable because
many people work part-time or are not included in the statistics for other
reasons, such as the number of children that live in Hartz IV households, which
has risen to record numbers.
Minimum Wage:
In Germany , there is not minimum wage. Each
work council, or profession negotiate with the syndicates in the profession for
the wage, in the last election the Socialist run on minimum wage across the
border of 8,50 Euros.
Syndicates
In Germany especially in the industry where is a Work Councils, you cannot get a Job for example VW if you do not belong to this Work councils. The work councils are run by elections, where any individual can run, but the left parties (SPD and Left Party) run the more people so the get more positions. The stewards represent any in the floor to the management, by locations. In 2011 the Confederation of German Trade Unions represented 6 Million workers and decline due to Hartz IV (one reason for his implementation).
In Germany especially in the industry where is a Work Councils, you cannot get a Job for example VW if you do not belong to this Work councils. The work councils are run by elections, where any individual can run, but the left parties (SPD and Left Party) run the more people so the get more positions. The stewards represent any in the floor to the management, by locations. In 2011 the Confederation of German Trade Unions represented 6 Million workers and decline due to Hartz IV (one reason for his implementation).
Poverty in Germany
From 80 Million Germany, 13.5% of the population
“survive” at 12,000 Euros a year and many have the minimal social support, in
other side of the spectrum, the German (In Germany is spread into 13.5% of the
population) (Foerster M and dÉcorle, 2005,. Income distribution and poverty
OECD Countries in the second half 0f 1990´s page 22, figure 6, Eurostart 2013).
The super wealthy is second US (2,060 Families) with 70 Million Euros in
average consisted. Most of the wealth is concentrated in Souther Provinces (the Catholic Provinces), where high end car manufacture, Porche, mercedes and BMW.
Education
Education
has been used by many liberal societies as equalizer of opportunities, needed
to consider the use of gate keepers and standards as way to control, to whom, have
access, is not just education by an opportunity of the access. The German education
is run on the Province level, but in the 10 grade, after test and teachers
recommendation, is separated in 4 groups (in general specially for the Gymnasium, students can not transfer from Province to another Province, sinc eSouther Provinces a base test is Latin or Greek not in the nothern Provices they required English, French and close to the Border with Polan, Polish is an option):
Haupschule: 3 day of practices for a job and
one day of theory in 2000 54.9% of students.
Realschule: 3 days of theory and one practice,
any person have very slim (while theoretical possible) enter a university and
option is Applied Technical Universities, but not a University, in 2000, 34.1%.
Gymnasium: prepare for the abitur (High School Diploma). Depending
in province in Southern part of Germany one of the requirements is Latin or
Greek, the other 2 exams are open. In Northern Provinces, English option,
because need of tutors to able to master Latin, Greek or English, limited
anyone with limited resources access to be prepare for the exam, in 2000 11% sudent polution enter the Gymnasium.
Some of cities have created integrated schools,
so any in these specific tracks can crossover; the integrated schools tend to
be a political contention issue between Left and the right. The last is
apprenticeship, which prepare to a job to any who have completed the tracks.
University are public and some of them began to
applied fees like in Lower Saxony (Hannover), but political pressure, the last
Province to return to free education is Bavaria, by 2015.
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