Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2010, and all its figures are from 2010: monthly wages and weekly hours per country, 9 million direct jobs worldwide, and Spain’s two-year wage freeze to avoid 15,000 layoffs.
Today the car industry provides more than 9 million direct jobs worldwide, yet, as we’ll see, the same task done by the same kind of worker comes with incredible differences in pay. In some cases, the conditions are inhumane.
The pay and conditions of a worker at a vehicle manufacturer vary from country to country.
Spain
The monthly wage is €1,625 for a 40-hour week, split into 8-hour shifts with two 10-minute breaks and a 20-minute lunch break. Workers have currently agreed to freeze their wages for 2 years, thereby avoiding more than 15,000 layoffs.
China
The monthly wage is €240 for a 42-hour week, plus compulsory overtime paid at €1.20 an hour. Some workers earn €500 a month, so at €1.20 per hour of overtime, work out how many hours they must put in.
Germany
The monthly wage is €2,400 for a 33-hour week split into 6-hour shifts. These are undoubtedly good working conditions.
India
The monthly wage is €350 for a nominal 48-hour week. According to the weekly newspaper, instead of granting the pay rise workers have long been demanding, companies have hired private security to intimidate workers who protest.
United States
The monthly wage is €2,200 for a 40-hour week, and at the moment, because of the crisis, workers in this sector have to work 10-hour shifts to avoid layoffs and increase production. The sector has been hit hard in the United States by competition from India and China.
Italy
The monthly wage is €1,700 for a 40-hour week split into 8-hour shifts. Nothing has changed in recent years.
These are the wage differences within a single sector, and they offer a very clear lesson. A company has to beat its competitors with sales techniques, lower manufacturing costs and so on, but how do you beat a company whose weapon is labor exploitation? For the cost of one worker in Germany, you can hire nine workers in China and India, who, to top it off, will work longer hours.
Further reading
Featured image: Marek Slusarczyk, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
