The SPD is losing the workers — here’s why

A fragmented working class is reshaping German politics — and leaving the SPD behind.

Dear Reader,

A few years ago, I spent a day in the life of a Syrian man working as a parcel delivery driver in Berlin. He was posting packages for a very wealthy online shopping company that would send me threatening legal letters if I were to mention its name here.

In practice, though, he wasn’t employed by them. Instead, he was working for a company at least two steps removed. His boss was a Syrian man who had worked his way up from the bottom and was running a fleet of half a dozen hired vans. He, in turn, was delivering for a larger Subunternehmen. That company may have worked directly for the trillion-dollar-company-that-must-not-be-named — or it may itself have been buffered by yet another layer of unaccountability.

At the bottom of the chain were drivers who spoke no German, signed ‘mini-job’ contracts, and were paid cash in hand to work hours well beyond legal limits. Higher up were people with enough German to set up small companies. They, in turn, worked for larger subcontracto…