Germany does well because there is a fairly low level of unemployment, and unions have board representation = they get ALL the financials = they know when things are good and bad, and by general cross industry co-operation only ask for wage increases when the company can afford it. There have been occasions where wages went down - for the good of the company. Similar to Japanese unions. In addition, the spread between the lowest wages and the average is small by US standards, so even the lower paid people can get by OK. In the USA the unions demand beyond what the companies can afford = the US auto and machine tool business was exported to Taiwan, Japan, Korea and now China - whose quality gets better every year. See what tunnel diggers and crane operators get in New York if you want a shock and an answer to why US subways and highrises cost so much (as well as land costs) and corporate real estate rent extortion = where the next crash will come from as business taxes are applied to corporate rentals for residences.