My first full year in Germany

My first full year in Germany is coming to an end. There are several social issues that will spill over into the next year. The train drivers strike is continuing. Commentators say that it threatens the post WWII social system in which unions played a central role in the maintenance of social stability. This small union has broken off from the larger union to go alone against the train company. It is a strategic union; no trains can drive without these employees. Therefore, they have much clout. Will other small groups of strategically placed employees also wield similar power in 2008?

The minimum wage discussion will continue. Some job sectors in Germany have a minimum wage but there is no national one. Post office employees, for instance, recently won this during negotiations concerning the privatization of the postal system. This discussion threatens to split the national grand coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats.

Children's rights will also remain a central issue. Several highly publicized cases of child abuse and the killing of children have enflamed the Social Democrats, leading them to propose enshrining children's rights in the Constitution. What this will do to ensure sufficient child care, decent education, and good health care for children is negligible. Angela Merkel does not support this endeavor, another threat to the grand coalition.