Schulten, Thorsten
Sector-level bargaining and possibilities for deviations at company level: Germany
22 March 2011
The legal basis of collective bargaining in Germany is laid down by the Collective Agreements Act, 1949. Collective agreements can be concluded between employer associations (or individual employers) and trade unions. In contrast, works councils – statutory employee representation bodies elected at workplace and company level – may only conclude works agreements. Under the Works Constitution Act, these ‘shall not deal with remuneration and other conditions of employment that have been fixed, or are normally fixed, by collective agreement’. An overview report is available.
Sector-level bargaining and possibilities for deviations at company level: Austria
22 March 2011
The legal basis of collective bargaining in Austria is laid down by the Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG). According to the ArbVG, collective agreements can be concluded only between collective organisations of employers and employees. Therefore, the Austrian labour law systematically benefits multi-employer bargaining. Consequently, the overwhelming majority of collective agreements are concluded at sectoral level. An overview report is available.
European minimum wage policy proposed
08 May 2005
On 21 and 22 April 2005 an international conference on 'minimum wages in
Europe' was held in Zurich (Switzerland) with participants from seven
European countries including representatives from the European Commission,
the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), several national trade union
organisations and various industrial relations experts. During that
conference researchers from the Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches
Institut in der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung (WSI) in Germany, the Institut de
Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES) in France and the Denknetz in
Switzerland presented a joint paper entitled 'theses for a European minimum
wage policy [1] ' which demand a coordination of national minimum wage
policies at European level.
[1] http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/wsi_2005_thesen_mindlohn_en.pdf
2003 Annual Review for Germany
12 May 2004
The current German federal government is a 'red-green' coalition of the
Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) and
the Alliance 90/The Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), which was re-elected in
September 2002. In 2003, there were four major regional elections at the
level of the federal states (Länder), which brought mixed results. In the
city state of Bremen, the coalition government of the SPD and the Christian
Democratic Party (Christlich Demokratische Union, CDU) defended its majority,
as did the conservative Christian Social Union (Christlich Soziale Union,
CSU) in Bavaria. In Hessia, the ruling coalition government of the CDU and
the Free Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei, FDP) was replaced by a
CDU-only government, while the SPD government in Lower Saxony was voted out
of office and replaced by a CDU/FDP coalition. As a result of these
elections, the federal opposition parties, CDU/CSU and FDP, successfully
defended their majority in the Bundesrat, the second chamber of parliament.
Because many legislative initiatives in the field of industrial relations and
employment require a majority in both chambers of parliament, the red-green
federal government is forced to find political compromises with the
conservative and liberal opposition parties.
Study examines income of top managers
11 February 2004
In December 2003, the leading German association of private investors
(Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz, DSW) published a study on
management board members' income at Germany’s 30 leading public limited
companies listed on the German Stock Exchange Index (Deutscher Aktienindex,
DAX) - see the table below.
Collective bargaining system under pressure
23 December 2003
Since the 1990s, the German system of sector-level collective bargaining has
seen a continuous process of transformation towards more company-level
bargaining. This transformation has taken various forms:
2002 Annual Review for Germany
23 March 2003
At the general election held in September 2002, the 'red-green' federal
coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische
Partei Deutschlands, SPD) and Alliance 90/the Greens (Bündnis 90/Die
Grünen) successfully, if narrowly, defended its majority in the first
chamber of parliament, the Bundestag, and remained in office (DE0211205F
[1]).
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/implications-of-the-new-red-green-government-for-industrial-relations
2002 collective bargaining round examined
04 March 2003
In January 2003, the Collective Agreement Archive (WSI-Tarifarchiv) of the
Institute for Economic and Social Research (Wirtschafts- und
Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut, WSI) within the Hans-Böckler Foundation
published its report on the 2002 collective bargaining round (Tarifpolitscher
Jahresbericht 2002: Harte Verteilungskonflikte, Reinhard
Bispinck/WSI-Tarifarchiv, WSI Informationen zur Tarifpolitik, Düsseldorf,
January 2003 [1]).
[1] http://www.boeckler.de/ebib/volltexte/Tarifpolitische_Halb-_Jahresberichte-2002-JB-text.pdf
New collective agreements signed in banking
19 January 2003
On 13 December 2002, the Employers’ Association for Private Banking
(Arbeitgeberverband des privaten Bankgewerbes, AGV Banken), the Collective
Bargaining Community for Public Banks (Tarifgemeinschaft öffentlicher
Banken) and the Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinte
Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, ver.di) concluded new collective agreements for
about 215,000 employees in private banking and 75,000 employees in public
banks. The agreements were reached after more than half a year of
negotiations, which were accompanied by strikes involving about 70,000
banking employees (DE0210203F [1]).
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/pay-dispute-continues-in-banking
Bundesrat rejects law on collectively agreed pay in public procurement
05 August 2002
On 12 July 2002, the Bundesrat- the second chamber of parliament,
representing the federal states' (Länder) governments - rejected the
government's bill for a 'law on collectively agreed pay in public
procurement' (Gesetz zur tariflichen Entlohnung bei öffentlichen
Aufträgen). More than two months previously, on 26 April, the Bundestag- the
first chamber of parliament - had adopted the bill. While in the Bundestag,
the ruling coalition of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische
Partei, SPD) and Alliance 90/The Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) hold a
majority of the votes, the opposition parties - the Christian Democratic
Party (Christlich Demokratische Partei, CDU) and the Free Democratic Party
(Frei Demokratische Partei, FDP) - have a majority in the Bundesrat.