But these groups, although they're small, are very aggressive, and protected by the police. If there's no visible opposition, it's a signal that hating immigrants is an acceptable part of the political process. Not all German labor is equally committed to defending immigrants however. Even within IG Metall, immigrants see a problem in their representation especially in the upper levels of the union. At its last congress, Campos' department introduced a resolution calling for the representation of immigrant members on all union boards and committees.
Women already have such a rule, with a numerical quota.
Other German unions still see immigrants as a threat. In Berlin the federal government is building a new center for the city, with numerous government buildings. But German construction unions, for the first time, are finding themselves locked out of the country's largest construction project. Instead, the work is being performed by a network of contractors and subcontractors. At the bottom, the workforce primarily consists of immigrants recently arrived from the countries of Eastern Europe, where unemployment is even higher, and wages much lower.