In a labor negotiation there are elaborate mechanisms for re-negotiating. Seldom does it come to strikes, but if they do occur, the union usually wins. Unions do not back off. They also have co-determination, a kind of shared governance in their plants, that involves worker input in all of the decisions effecting the business except investment, hiring and firing. In practice, this arrangement has worked to the benefit of both parties, employers and employees.
Work is a major value in German life, a major motivating drive that runs the entire society.
While this may sound like a commonplace for modern societies, it was not always the case. In ancient societies like the Roman and Greek, work was not a societal value. Contributing something useful to one's fellow human beings, making something or performing a service, was not a high priority in olden times. Work was for slaves. For the masters, the ideal was the Vita Contemplativa , the contemplative life of thought, meditation and introspection.