Ruminations of an American gastarbeiter: Germany on the precipice, part 3 of 3

Dear reader, this concludes the three part series about an American college student who went to work in Germany in 1972. Consider a bit of perspective… I was a college student 50 years ago when I penned these words. I have left the text largely intact to preserve the integrity of the piece, but by today’s standards it suffers. Please be forgiving. — LDW

There has been far too much mindless chatter about violence in America. America has never had a monopoly on violence. Violence in modern western nations is primarily a symptom of such social forces as imperialism and
industrialization. America is a land of violence because America is an imperialist, industrialized nation.

Germany has a history of violence that makes the history of American violence look like a grade “G’’ movie. Today, Germany’s economy is much stronger and growing faster than America’s. How long before central-city Hannover is burned for the same reasons as Watts a few years ago?

The gastarbeiter, to put it mildly, is rather unloved by the average German. There are a number of reasons for this. Marx has discussed the notion that
bigotry and prejudice have always arisen historically from the importation of slave or alien laborers. Modern day Germany, like America, is a case study of
this phenomenon.

nationalism

Most visitors to Germany who understand the language, or who remain there long enough to begin to learn it, come away with the unmistakable impression that Germans are extremely nationalistic. This is particularly
apparent among the older Germans, and is almost universal in Bavaria.

Germans, of course, do not have a monopoly on nationalism as a stereotype. Parisians and Israelis, for example, are also known by the casually traveled to
be among the most arrogant and nationalistic of people. Nevertheless, for whatever reason the Germans exhibit this trait. It can only exacerbate an already tense coexistence with gastarbeiters.

The situation of the German labor unions has been previously discussed to a small extent. The important point here is that the German government does virtually everything in its power to keep the unions as weak as possible. Offhand, I would say that this particular government policy has been extremely successful. This year, for example, tens of thousands of government troops were temporarily stationed in Bavaria to discourage potential German strikers from detracting from Germany’s glory as the host of the Olympics.

the government’s complaint department

Another interesting example of this government policy is the government sponsored employee’s complaint department. All workers, both German and
foreign, view this office as highly effective in correcting and mediating minor problems between individual laborers and management. The problem arises
in that the labor unions are weakened in direct proportion to how successfully the government takes over their most important functions.

The most blatant government policy in recent years which has worked to the disadvantage of the German labor unions has been the open door policy for the admission of foreign labor. As each new gastarbeiter crosses the border to work in Germany, the bargaining power of the German unions deteriorates by another increment. A German laborer once told me half-jokingly that, “There are so many gastarbeiters in Germany that any German who wants to can be in management.” Of course this is an exaggeration, but it does point out two interesting trends in labor.

It is true that the massive influx of foreign laborers has freed large numbers of Germans to occupy newly created management positions. This is especially true considering the stringent German taboo against the promotion of a gastarbeiter to a management position. But this first trend works at the same time to constantly weaken the position of the unskilled German laborer who finds his job security daily disappearing. Wherever possible, management usually prefers the passive, ignorant, grateful gastarbeiter to the informed, uppity German union man.

the housing shortage

The unskilled, or semi-skilled German laborer and the gastarbeiter clash directly in another extremely sensitive area. The second trend has been the growth in recent years of a severe, chronic housing shortage in Germany. The influx of millions of imported workers in the last decade or so has created a particularly severe shortage in lower cost housing. This situation has resulted in a double crunch for the German laborer. Housing discrimination eliminates many gastarbeiters from competing against Germans for much of the available housing.

In addition there is the issue of spiraling rents in the so-called lower priced housing. The newly arrived gastarbeiter may be momentarily taken aback by high rents in Germany, but the Germans have been watching these rents escalate year after year causing more animosity against the gastarbeiter.

All these points, however, are minor in the light of one extremely important incident which recently took place in German industry. Recent trends in automobile buying behavior of Germans indicate that as they earn more money, they are shunning the Volkswagen in favor of the more prestigious Mercedes, BMW, and assorted French automobiles. This recent trend, in
combination with a minor recession in the German economy last year, culminated in massive lay-offs at Volkswagen plants across the country.

the gastarbeiter contract

When Volkswagen, as do all other major German firms, recruits gastarbeiters, they invariably give them a one or two year contract. German workers, however, normally receive a contract which merely states such things as
grievance procedures, probation periods, etc. German laborers normally do not have a contract guaranteeing them a minimum duration of employment.

So, naturally, nearly all of the thousands of workers laid off by Volkswagen last year were Germans not under contract. Very few gastarbeiters missed one
day’s work. While the Germans in Germany were out of work, the Turks and Yugoslavians were bringing in the Deutschmarks as usual. It would be an
understatement to call this merely a tense situation.

In my mind there is no question that the potential for violence between the
gastarbeiters and the lower-paid German laborers is great throughout Germany. These two groups come into direct conflict in too many areas in German society. Probably all that is needed for a complete breakdown of the present shaky co-existence is another depression, but more severe, where hundreds of thousands of Germans are laid off, and the gastarbeiters
continue working unaffected.

explosion?

A scenario such as this begins to parallel in many important ways recent trends in America, England, and numerous other western countries. The first
ingredient is a declining economy. The second ingredient is the influx of, or existence of millions of so-called ‘‘foreigners.’’ These are the Turks and Southern Europeans in Germany, the Blacks and Chicanos in America, and the Pakistanis in England. In England and America the competition among the lower-classes for jobs, housing, and education has combined with bigotry to produce massive violence. I believe it is only a matter of time before Germany explodes in a similar manner.

Initially published in: University of New Mexico. “New Mexico Daily Lobo, Volume 076, No 28, 10/4/1972.” 76, 28 (1972).https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/daily_lobo_1972/108 [note: originally published under the title “Memoirs of an American gastarbeiter.”]