(By Ray D.)
As a result of our articles on the recent cover of ‘metall’, the monthly magazine of Germany’s largest trade union IG Metall, we received copies of numerous letters of protest sent in by our readers. Like us, they were deeply upset that IG Metall has chosen to portray Americans and American companies as bloodsucking parasites. Since then, the union has gone even further and defended the cover as a “good caricature” after it was sharply criticized by a prominent German politician.
The (Blood-) Suckers: US Firms in Germany
Many readers were also outraged that Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democrats, out of desperation in the run-up to the North Rhine-Westphalia election, opened the entire Pandora’s box by comparing capitalists to a locust plague. The SPD also supported IG Metall when the union and its magazine cover were harshly criticized by German politician Guido Westerwelle. SPD boss Klaus Uwe Beneter described Westerwelle’s criticism of the unions, including his objection to the ‘metall’ cover, as “near anti-democratic populism.”
In other words, Gerhard Schroeder’s SPD doesn’t view the overt racism of IG Metall as “anti-democratic populism.” Instead it attacks anyone daring to criticize the unions and their outrageous anti-American antics as near anti-democratic populists. But the grotesque hypocrisy doesn’t stop there: Recently, the SPD-led German government has taken-out full-page newspaper ads in the United States, claiming that the Schroeder government is a partner for “freedom, peace and prosperity.”
As David would say: You may throw up now…
Letter to IG Metall: “Unions are the “ball and chain around the ankles of the prison inmates” in the German economy…”
One letter of protest to IG Metall, which we just received via email, is so impressive that we wanted to share it with out readers. Here it is:
“IG Metall Board of Directors:
As a 65 year-old German who has worked in the States for over 30 years, I believe that I can contribute something to the current controversy about the last edition of “metall.”
In Germany,…”
