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.
Based on the so-called Dual System (of Vocational Training) [1] (Duales System), practical vocational training [2] in Germany is given at work in the participating employer's establishment, backed up by statutory theoretical training and general education provided in vocational training school [3] s
Under the terms of the Works Constitution Act [1] (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz, §§ 111f), a procedure known as "reconcilement of interests [2]" (Interessenausgleich) aims at reconciling the positions of the employer and the workforce in case of a proposed substantial alteration of the establishment
On 27 February 1997, a company-wide employment alliance (Beschäftigungspakt) was signed at the automobile manufacturer Mercedes Benz. A whole package of instruments should boost competitiveness and save the jobs of the 134,000 employees working for Mercedes Benz in Germany. The background to the
The cause of the industrial unrest was the announcement by the ruling Conservative-Liberal coalition Government that it was planning to scale back annual subsidies for the - basically west - German hard coal (Steinkohle) industry dramatically. During the ensuing protests, Germany saw a human chain
On 19 March 1997, the general meeting of the Fachgemeinschaft Bau Berlin und Brandenburg, the regional industry and employers' association for the building industry in the federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg, decided to quit the Zentralverband des Deutschen Baugewerbes (Central Association of