Germany: Representativeness of the European social partner organisations – Personal services sector
The aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the personal services sector in Germany. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining.
Introduction
According to the company register 73,342 hair and beauty salons operated in Germany in 2005. It should be noted that sectoral bargaining prevails in the sector. Employers are represented by their regional associations during collective bargaining rounds. The United Services Union leads collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of its members in the sector.
1. Sectoral properties
| 1995 | 2006** | |
| Number of employers | n.a. | 73,342* |
| Aggregate employment** | n.a. | n.a. |
| Male employment** | n.a. | n.a. |
| Female employment** | n.a. | n.a. |
| Aggregate employees*** | n.a. | n.a. |
| Male employees*** | n.a. | n.a. |
| Female employees*** | n.a. | n.a. |
| Aggregate sectoral employment as a % of total employment in the economy | n.a. | n.a. |
| Aggregate sectoral employees as a % of the total number of employees in the economy | n.a. | n.a. |
*Federal Statistical Office ( Statistisches Bundesamt, destatis). Company register ( Unternehmensregister), figures include companies as well as establishments. Data refer to reporting year 2005.
**Destatis-data are only available for 93.0, but not for 93.02.
***Federal Employment Agency ( Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA) only publishes data for 93.0, but not for 93.02.
2. The sector’s trade unions and employer associations
This section includes the following trade unions and employer associations:
1. trade unions which are party to sector-related collective bargaining (In line with the conceptual remarks outlined in the accompanying briefing note, we understand sector-related collective bargaining as any kind of collective bargaining within the sector, i.e. single-employer bargaining as well as multi-employer bargaining. For the definition of single- and multi-employer bargaining, see 4.2)
2. trade unions which are a member of the sector-related European Union Federation (i.e. UNI-EUROPA – Hair and Beauty)
3. employer associations which are a party to sector-related collective bargaining
4. employer associations (business associations) which are a member of the sector-related European Business Federation (i.e. COIFFURE EU)
2a Data on the trade unions
2a.1 Type of membership (voluntary vs. compulsory)
United Services Union (Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, ver.di): Membership is voluntary.
2a.2 Formal demarcation of membership domain (e.g. blue-collar workers, private-sector workers, board staff, etc.)
Ver.di is open to all employees.
2a.3 Number of union members (i.e. the total number of members of the union as a whole)
Ver.di: 2,205,145 (source: ver.di, as of 2007)
2a.4 Number of union members in the sector
Ver.di: no detailed membership data is available.
2a.5 Female union members as a percentage of total union membership
Ver.di: 90% (E).
2a.6 Domain density: total number of members of the union in relation to the number of potential members as demarcated by the union domain (see 2a.2)
Ver.di: No data is available.
2a.7 Sectoral density: total number of members of the union in the sector in relation to the number of employees in the sector, as demarcated by the NACE definition
No sectoral density can be calculated.
2a.8 Sectoral domain density: total number of members of the union in the sector in relation to the number of employees which work in that part of the sector as covered by the union domain
Ver.di: No data is available.
2a.9 Does the union conclude collective agreements?
Yes.
2a.10 For each association, list their affiliation to higher-level national, European and international interest associations (including cross-sectoral associations)
Ver.di is affiliated to the Confederation of German Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB) and to UNI-EUROPA.
2b Data on the employer associations
2b.1 Type of membership (voluntary vs. compulsory)
The association Zentralverband des Deutschen Friseurhandwerks (ZV) operates in the sector. Membership is voluntary.
2b.2 Formal demarcation of membership domain (e.g. SMEs, small-scale crafts/industry, personal services enterprises, etc.)
Representation is generally speaking open to all hair and beauty salons in the sector.
2b.3 Number of member companies (i.e. the total number of members of the association as a whole)
ZV comprises 16 regional associations (according to ZV’s website).
2b.4 Number of member companies in the sector
There is no data available.
2b.5 Number of employees working in member companies (i.e. the total number of the association as a whole)
There is no data available.
2b.6 Number of employees working in member companies in the sector
There is no data available.
2b.7 Domain density in terms of companies: total number of member companies of the association in relation to the number of potential member companies as demarcated by the association’s domain (see 2b.2)
There is no data available.
2b.8 Sectoral density in terms of companies: total number of member companies of the association in the sector in relation to the number of companies in the sector, as demarcated by the NACE definition
There is no data available.
2b.9 Sectoral domain density in terms of companies: total number of member companies of the association in the sector in relation to the number of companies which operate in that part of the sector as covered by the association’s domain
There is no data available.
2b.10 Domain density in terms of employees represented: total number of employees working in the association’s member companies in relation to the number of employees working in potential member companies, as demarcated by the association’s domain (see 2b.2)
There is no data available.
2b.11 Sectoral density in terms of employees represented: total number of employees working in the association’s member companies in the sector in relation to the number of employees in the sector, as demarcated by the NACE definition
There is no data available.
2b.12 Sectoral domain density in terms of employees represented: total number of employees working in the association’s member companies in the sector in relation to the number of employees working in companies which operate in that part of the sector as covered by the association’s domain
There is no data available.
2b.13 Does the employer association conclude collective agreements?
The regional employer associations of ZV generally conclude collective agreements.
2b.14 For each association, list their affiliation to higher-level national, European and international interest associations (including the cross-sectoral associations).
ZV is affiliated to Coiffure EU as well as to Organisation Mondiale de la Coiffure (OMC).
3. Inter-associational relationships
3.1. Please list all trade unions covered by this study whose domains overlap.
None.
3.2. Do rivalries and competition exist among the trade unions, concerning the right to conclude collective agreements and to be consulted in public policy formulation and implementation?
No.
3.3. If yes, are certain trade unions excluded from these rights?
No.
3.4. Same question for employer associations as 3.1.
None.
3.5. Same question for employer associations as 3.2.
No.
3.6. Same question for employer associations as 3.3.
No.
3.7. Are there large companies or employer associations which refuse to recognise the trade unions and refuse to enter collective bargaining?
Not to our knowledge.
4. The system of collective bargaining
4.1. Estimate the sector’s rate of collective bargaining coverage (i.e. the ratio of the number of employees covered by any kind of collective agreement to the total number of employees in the sector).
There is no data available.
4.2. Estimate the relative importance of multi-employer agreements and of single-employer agreements as a percentage of the total number of employees covered. (Multi-employer bargaining is defined as being conducted by an employer association on behalf of the employer side. In the case of single-employer bargaining, it is the company or its subunit(s) which is the party to the agreement. This includes the cases where two or more companies jointly negotiate an agreement.)
Sectoral collective bargaining is the norm.
4.2.1. Is there a practice of extending multi-employer agreements to employers who are not affiliated to the signatory employer associations?
In a number of federal states (Länder) collective agreements are declared generally binding for all employers in the hair and beauty sector (in general only those for hairdressers) according to para. 5 of the Collective Agreement Act (Allgemeinverbindlichkeitserklärung, § 5 Tarifvertragsgesetz). In some cases this covers the regional framework collective agreement, the pay agreements and/or the collective agreements concerning the remuneration for apprentices. In a number of federal states only some of these agreements are extended to all employers.
4.2.2. If there is a practice of extending collective agreements, is this practice pervasive or rather limited and exceptional?
-
4.3. List all sector-related multi-employer wage agreements* valid in 2006 (or most recent data), including for each agreement information on the signatory parties and the purview of the agreement in terms of branches, types of employees and territory covered.
* Only wage agreements which are (re)negotiated on a reiterated basis.
| Bargaining parties | Purview of the sector-related multi-employer wage agreements | ||
| Sectoral | Type of employees | Territorial | |
| ver.di and various regional employer associations | There are about 20 sectoral collective agreements covering various bargaining regions | blue and white collar employees | regional |
4.4. List the sector’s four most important collective agreements (single-employer or multi-employer agreements) valid in 2006 (or most recent data), including for each agreement information on the signatory parties and the purview of the agreement in terms of branches, types of employees and territory covered. Importance is measured in terms of employees covered.
| Bargaining parties | Purview of the agreements | ||
| Sectoral | Type of employees | Territorial | |
| ver.di / regional employer association | North-Rhine Westphalia | all employees | regional |
| ver.di / regional employer association | Bavaria | all employees | regional |
| ver.di / regional employer association | Baden-Württemberg | all employees | regional |
| ver.di / regional employer association | Lower-Saxony and City of Bremen | all employees | regional |
5. Formulation and implementation of sector-specific public policies
5.1. Are the sector’s employer associations and trade unions usually consulted by the authorities in sector-specific matters? If yes, which associations?
Trade unions are consulted on occasion by authorities in sector-specific matters. There is no data available for ZV.
5.2. Do tripartite bodies dealing with sector-specific issues exist? If yes, please indicate their domain of activity (for instance, health and safety, equal opportunities, labour market, social security and pensions etc.), their origin (agreement/statutory) and the interest organisations having representatives in them:
No.
| Name of the body and scope of activity | Bipartite/tripartite | Origin: agreement/statutory | Trade unions having representatives (reps) | Employer associations having reps. |
* Sector-specific policies specifically target and affect the sector under consideration.
6. Statutory regulations of representativeness
6.1. In the case of the trade unions, do statutory regulations exist which establish criteria of representativeness which a union must meet, so as to be entitled to conclude collective agreements? If yes, please briefly illustrate these rules and list the organisations which meet them.
No.
6.2. In the case of the trade unions, do statutory regulations exist which establish criteria of representativeness which a union must meet, so as to be entitled to be consulted in matters of public policy and to participate in tripartite bodies? If yes, please briefly illustrate these rules and list the organisations which meet them.
No.
6.3. Are elections for a certain representational body (e.g. works councils) established as criteria for trade union representativeness? If yes, please report the most recent electoral outcome for the sector.
No.
6.4. Same question for employer associations as 6.1.
No.
6.5. Same question for employer associations as 6.2.
No.
6.6. Are elections for a certain representational body established as criteria for the representativeness of employer associations? If yes, please report the most recent outcome for the sector.
No.
Sandra Vogel, Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW Köln) and Heiner Dribbusch, Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI)