Employers and trade unions oppose xenophobia and right-wing extremism

Source: "Rechtsextremismus im vereinten Deutschland", Richard Stöss, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (ed), Bonn, 1999, p. 35 .

Criminal offences linked to extreme right

According to figures issued by the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA), the total number of registered criminal offences with a proven or suspected extreme-right background was 10,037 in 1999, compared with 11,049 in 1998. While the total number of such criminal offences dropped by 9.2%, the number of acts of violence increased by 5.4% from 708 in 1998 to 746 in 1999. Among the acts of violence, there were 630 bodily injuries, 35 cases of arson, 13 attempted homicides and one actual homicide. The level of extreme-right violence was particularly high in the five east German federal states. On average, the rate of acts of extreme-right violence per 100,000 inhabitants was 2.19 in east Germany and 0.68 in the west. Approximately three-quarters of all violent attacks with an extreme-right background are carried out by younger people

Business initiative to dismiss extreme-right employees

At the beginning of August 2000, following the new outbreak of violent attacks against foreigners, the Confederation of German Industries (Bundesvereinigung der deutschen Industrie, BDI) sent a letter to all its member companies demanding urgent action against xenophobia and right-wing extremism. According to BDI, a continuation of extreme-right violence could cause grave damage to Germany's international reputation and its attractiveness as an investment location. In particular, foreign companies might become more and more unwilling to locate in east Germany, because they fear violent attacks against their non-German employees. Furthermore, BDI is afraid that the current upsurge in of extreme-right violence might have an negative impact on the German government's recent campaign to encourage software specialists from outside the European Union to come to Germany (DE0003252F).

In order to give a clear signal from German business, BDI has called on its member companies to dismiss employees with open extreme-right opinions. The DGB trade union confederation supports the BDI's initiative and calls for close cooperation between management and works councils on this issue. From a legal point of view, however, the dismissal of employees on grounds of extreme-right views is rather complicated. There have been several judgments on this point in the labour courts, with some approving the dismissal of extreme-right employees and some not. According to these rulings, it seems that membership of an extreme-right organisation which has not been banned, or participation in some extreme-right activities outside the company, are not sufficient in themselves to justify dismissal. On the other hand, the labour courts have usually accepted dismissals if extreme-right activities have been pursued within the company, referring to the Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz, BetrVG), according to which employees can be dismissed when they "cause trouble in the establishment" (BetrVG, Article 104). In any case, the labour court would have to examine every individual case of dismissal on grounds of extreme-right activities.

Trade union commission reports

In May 2000, the DGB executive board presented a report from a "trade union commission on right-wing extremism", which was established after the DGB congress in 1998 in order to "analyse the development of right-wing extremism in Germany from a trade union point of view and to develop recommendations for trade union action". The commission was composed of representatives from DGB and its affiliated trade unions, with support from external experts. The main reasons for the establishment of the commission were twofold. First, it has been observed that extreme-right organisations have increasingly concentrated their policies on classic trade union topics, such as unemployment or social policy. Second, the unions have had to acknowledge that there is also a significant problem of right-wing extremism among trade union members. Studies have shown, for example, that in some recent elections there has been an above-average number of trade union members voting for extreme-right parties (DE9809276N).

The trade union commission's report concluded that there is no single reason for the significant dissemination of right-wing extremism in Germany. Although economic reasons such as high unemployment play a major role, one can not relegate the existence of right-wing extremism to a problem of the "underclass", since extreme-right orientations can be found in almost all social groups. There are other explanations which put more emphasis on the overall modernisation process of society, which has led to the destruction of traditional milieus and values. In response to these developments, those people who are not able to cope with the overall tendency towards individualisation often look for new systems with a stable orientation - as offered by extreme-right ideologies and organisations. There are further explanations put forward which associate the problem of right-wing extremism with the political culture of society. From this viewpoint, elements of extreme-right ideology can be found not only at the periphery but at the core of society, since, for example, politicians from democratic parties use resentments against foreigners in their election campaigns. Another example could be the widespread neoliberal concepts of economic globalisation and national competitiveness, which are often used to justify social cutbacks and might be easily transformed into a xenophobic way of thinking which makes foreigners responsible for social decline.

Since there are many different reasons for the dissemination of right-wing extremism, the report finds there is also no single and easy way to fight against it. The commission, therefore, recommends a broad range of measures which should be taken by the trade unions in their different areas of influence. The most important place for unions to fight against right-wing extremism is in the establishment and the workplace. Therefore, the unions should first of all use their influence to redress all existing forms of discrimination against foreign employees at the workplace. In the mid-1990s, the IG Metall metalworkers' union launched a campaign involving several activities to prevent racial discrimination at the workplace. One central aim of this initiative was to conclude works agreement s guaranteeing equal treatment for foreign workers in all aspects of employment, including pay and working conditions, recruitment, training and promotion. The initiative was inspired by the European-level social partners' 1995 joint declaration on the prevention of racial discrimination from 1995 (TN9706201S). Until now, however, only a few companies have concluded such works agreements on the promotion of equal treatment of foreign and German employees. Therefore, IG Metall has recently repeated its appeal to companies to start joint action at the workplace.

Another important area for trade unions to tackle the problem of right-wing extremism is vocational training. There are some examples where companies have already successfully incorporated projects against racism and xenophobia into vocational training courses. The commission's report now recommends that trade unions develop, together with employers, joint training programmes which tackle the issue of right-wing extremism. Moreover, the social partners should conclude works or collective agreements which lay down binding guidelines on how to integrate this topic into vocational training. In addition, the commission recommends putting more emphasis on topics related to xenophobia and right-wing extremism within the courses offered by trade union colleges.

Since the current political culture in Germany has been identified as one element in explaining the significant dissemination of extreme-right orientations, the report finally asks the unions to use their political voice, as an important organisation in civil society. Trade unions should openly criticise all political projects or campaigns which might draw on xenophobic resentments, and should promote their own vision of a tolerant and multicultural society.

Commentary

There is a widespread myth in German public opinion that people with extreme-right views are mainly marginalised persons who tend to have no job and to stand outside of society. In reality, however, the truth is almost the opposite. People with extreme-right orientations can be found in all parts of society and the majority of them are fully integrated into working life. The latter point has been recognised by both employers' associations and trade unions, which have thus called for urgent action at the workplace.

It is obvious that an effective fight against xenophobia and right-wing extremism requires close cooperation between employers and employee representatives. In order to ensure that the recent demands and announcements of both sides will lead to practical initiatives, they would seem to be well advised to conclude joint agreements which determine concrete measures in every company, in order to secure in every respect equal treatment of foreign and German employees. (Thorsten Schulten, Institute for Economic and Social Research (WSI))