A new contract at two Siemens factories, allowing for an increase in the standard work week, has made headlines across Germany. In the 1980s German trade unions battled for and won a 35-hour work week and many see this agreement as a step towards returning to a 40-hour week. Poor economic conditions in Germany have fueled a national debate over working habits, with many feeling the German people need to work more and be more flexible in their wiliness to work. Unions now fear other manufacturers will follow the lead of Siemens, who won the concessions by threatening to close down the plants and move production to Hungary.
See "Will Germans Work Longer?", Ray Furlong, Binghamton Press and Sun Bulletin, July 21, 2004