Word: strohbach
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Ernst Strohbach turned to the state for money in 1959. With Communist capital (47%), he built a diversified firm in the ruins of Dresden. His 135 workers turn out just over $1,000,000 worth of jewelry, electroplated metals, and baroque Hofmuster silver each year. Strohbach could have gone with a giant state firm, which would have guaranteed him the security that he insists is "very important." But he remained semiprivate because, he says, rubbing his thumb and first two fingers together: "I can make so much more...
Like all East German capitalists, he must put up with labor relations that would unsettle many a Western businessman. Before his firm absorbed another company, Strohbach had to invite the workers' council into the negotiations. The workers also demanded, and got, a redecoration of their dining room, and they control most of the hiring and firing. Strohbach confers with the workers' council two or three times a day, but he retains the right to decide what products are made and how. The state may be his partner, but he insists: "Ich bin der Boss...
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