In Germany, ‘borrowed’ workers are paid less for the same job

Inequality in workplaces in Germany is increasing: some are permanently employed and enjoy all rights, while others are ‘borrowed’ workers – increasingly from other European countries, who do the same job for a lower salary, writes Deutsche Welle.

The case of German Amazon, where foreign workers were kept in conditions similar to a camp and where they worked – actually not for Amazon, but for a company that ‘borrowed’ cheap labor from Amazon, is just one of the many examples of inequality in the workplace.
The (Social Democratic!) government of Schröder changed local legal regulations under which someone could legally demand permanent employment if they had worked a certain period in a job – and where it was obvious that the company they worked for needed that employee’s labor.

Similarly, it was practically impossible for employees of two companies to work in the same facility: one, whose facility it actually was, and the other, the so-called ‘service’ company that sends workers to the facility for a much lower salary and almost without any security. Because these ‘borrowed’ workers work for that service company, not for the company where they actually work.
The ‘mobility’ that was introduced to accommodate German employers means that a company can only decide whom to offer a permanent position – and who will have to work, and can overnight lose their job, writes Deutsche Welle. This is interpreted as ‘seasonal’ work – although in many companies, but also in state institutions, thanks to such legal regulations that boil down to the exploitation of employees, this ‘season’ lasts for years!

Seasonal work as well as fixed-term work have always existed. The need for seasonal workers in agriculture, during harvest or picking, has also always existed, and probably nothing will change in this regard. According to Johannes Jakob, an expert on market and labor policy at the German Trade Union Confederation, hiring workers for just a few months is therefore not fundamentally negative.
– However, problems begin to arise when employers employ workers long-term based on fixed-term work principles. They can practically dispose of them as they wish since they can hire or fire them at any time – says Jakob.

This method of employment affects both German workers and those coming to Germany from abroad – whether they are brought directly by a company or come on their own.
– Hiring workers from abroad is actually more expensive than hiring domestic ones. However, some companies still resort to this, especially during the season, for example, before and during the Christmas holidays – explains Jakob.
However, Werner Eichhorst from the Institute for the Future of Work in Bonn states that according to the law, all citizens of EU member states may, after a certain number of years, seek employment (and be employed) in any EU country. This leads to an increasing number of workers from abroad coming to Germany. Job offers for fixed-term work are particularly attractive to foreigners who do not speak German and who have little or no education.

Exact, concrete numbers of fixed-term workers, as Johannes Jakob says, are not easy to ascertain. However, the German Trade Union Confederation estimates that currently around 900,000 people are employed in Germany under this principle, of which about 100,000 come from abroad.
However, although there are no concrete numbers, experts claim that it is evident that as the economic situation in southern or eastern European countries becomes increasingly difficult, the number of workers coming from these countries to Germany increases.

Jakob states that German unions would gladly advocate for the rights of foreign workers abroad, but it is not that simple.
– The problem is that they stay in Germany for a very short time, rarely longer than 11 months, and they do not speak German, which is why they do not seek our help – he says.
Jakob and Eichhorst believe that fixed-term work can fundamentally make sense and have positive aspects. However, if employers use this model solely to pay workers extremely low wages, then there is nothing positive about it. They argue that the solution lies in legally introducing rules that would equalize the wages and hourly rates of fixed-term workers and those permanently employed.
– We are doing everything to ensure that the company costs the same for everyone doing the same job, whether permanently employed, temporarily, or ‘borrowed’ from another company – says Johannes Jakob.
However, despite the effort, improvement is not in sight for now, primarily because the engagement from the unions alone is not sufficient.
– We as a society must simply understand that this situation is unacceptable and that we cannot treat people as we have until now – says Jakob.