Zagelmeyer, Stefan

On 19 October 1998, workers at the GMD FIRST institute in Berlin- a research centre for computer science owned by the federal government with minority shares held by the states of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen and Berlin - launched what may be the first "internet strike". The employees were protesting against the threat of wage cuts.

In October 1998, Jürgen Strube, chair of the German chemicals multinational, BASF AG, Hubertus Schmoldt, chair of the chemical, construction and energy workers' trade union, IG BCE, and Rheinhard Mohn, chair of the Bertelsmann Foundation, along with a number of other representatives from business and politics, established an "initiative for employment" (Initiative für Beschäftigung).

A first collective agreement on telework was concluded by Deutsche Telekom AG and the postal workers' union, Deutsche Postgewerkschaft (DPG) on 10 October 1995. The company "agreement on accompanying the testing of alternating telework at Deutsche Telekom AG" (Tarifvertrag zur Begleitung der Erprobung von alternierender Teleheimarbeit bei der Deutschen Telekom AG) aimed to combine increasing employee self-determination regarding working time and working location with the necessary protection.

On 21 September 1998, the metalworking employers' association, Gesamtmetall, and the IG Metall metalworkers' union agreed a number of provisions for the 260,000 employees in the east German metalworking sector. The most important provisions are that:

On 22 July 1998, the metalworking sectoral employers' association of Lower-Saxony (Verband der Metallindustriellen Niedersachsens, VMN) and the Hannover region of the IG Metall metalworkers' trade union agreed a package deal which covers 80,000 employees in the region's metalworking industry.

In July 1998, the third Act on "capital participation" (Vermögensbeteiligung) was passed. The new provisions aim at increasing the share of German employees in productive capital and will come into force on 1 January 1999. The new Act partially changes the provisions of the Act Promoting Capital Formation by Employees (Vermögensbildungssgesetz).

On 19 August 1998, an interregional trade union council for the "Southern Baltic Sea" area (Interregionaler Gewerkschaftsrat Südliche Ostsee) was established by: the regional organisations of the German Federation of Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB) for Nordmark and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO); and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisation i Sverige, LO). Peter Deutschland, chair of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern DGB, was elected the first chair of the new council.

For many citizens in eastern Germany, the goal of equalisation of incomes between western and eastern Germany has top priority. Since unification, most German trade unions have demanded the equalisation of wage levels between eastern and western Germany. A recent study by the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln has found that income levels in eastern Germany have already come close to western levels ("Einkommensangleichung zwischen West- und Ostdeutschland: Eine Bestandsaufnahme", Michael Grömling and Claus Schnabel, in: iw-trends 3/98)

In October 1997, the presidents of six German service sector trade unions signed a general declaration on restructuring the trade union organisations in the service sector DE9710233F [1]). Five months later, in February 1998, the six unions published a common draft for a "political platform on the restructuring of trade union representation of interests in the service sector" (Politische Plattform zur Neustrukturierung der gewerkschaftlichen Interessenvertretung im Dienstleistungsbereich) (DE9803256N [2]). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-industrial-relations/a-wave-of-trade-union-mergers [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/unions-agree-further-steps-towards-combined-service-sector-union

In January/February 1996, the Bavarian State Government, and all Bavarian trade unions and employers' and trade associations agreed on an "Employment Pact Bavaria" (Beschäftigungspakt Bayern). Subsequently, on 11 June 1996, the partners agreed a formal employment pact "treaty" which included concrete measures to stem the increase in job losses and to halve the number of unemployed persons in the period until 2000, basically through the creation of new jobs and the establishment of new companies. Among other points, measures relevant to labour relations included an increase in part-time jobs and working time flexibility as well as the introduction of "opening clauses" in collective agreements. The Bavarian employment pact, with the participation and guidance of the region's conservative Christian Social government, is the only regional-level employment alliance to survive the failed national Employment Alliance of 1996 (TN9710201S [1] andDE9806166F [2]). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/erm/comparative-information/collective-bargaining-on-employment-in-europe [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-industrial-relations-working-conditions/dgb-quits-employment-alliance-for-eastern-germany-a-chronology-of-failure