Employment is currently the big issue in the European Union. This report describes the recent initiatives known as PECs (pacts for employment and competitiveness) which are a combination of three main elements: competitiveness, employment and partnership.
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
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
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
In Germany, most employees are covered by collectively agreed wages ("collective contract wages") which are negotiated by trade unions and employers' associations at branch level. Collective agreements have the function of establishing legally binding minimum working conditions for the employees and
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
On 22 May 1997, the German Federal Government, the German Trade Union Federation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB), the German Salaried Employees' Union (Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft, DAG), the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen
On 15 June 1998, after two years of negotiations the telecommunications company Otelo Communications GmbH & Co, the public sector and transport employees' trade union (Gewerkschaft Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr, ÖTV) and the chemical, mining and energy employees' union (IG Bergbau
On 15 May 1998, after 18 month of intense negotiations, the eastern German metalworking employers' association, Ostmetall, and the Christian Metalworkers' Union (Christliche Gewerkschaft Metall, CGM) concluded a package of collective agreements known as Phönix [1]. Ostmetall is an association of the
In May 1998, an "agreement on the maintenance of the production location and employment" (Standort- und Becshäftigungssicherungsvertrag) was concluded at the pharmaceuticals producer, Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR) Germany. The deal was signed by the company, its group works council, the mining