Schulten, Thorsten

On 26 June 1997 the Northrhine-Westphalia (NRW) district office of Germany's IG Metall metalworkers' union for the first time invited its colleagues from Dutch and Belgium metalworking unions to join a meeting of the regional collective bargaining commission (Tarifkommission). The commission is the trade union's decision-making body on collective bargaining strategy, as well as on the final adoption of collective agreements.

On 28 May 1997, new collective agreements were concluded for the 460,000 or so employees in west German banking. The signatories were the commerce, banking and insurance workers' trade union HBV (Gewerkschaft Handel, Banken und Versicherungen) and the white-collar workers' union DAG (Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft) on one side, and the employers' association for private banking (Arbeitgeberverband des privaten Bankgewerbes) and the collective bargaining community for public banks (Tarifgemeinschaft öffentlicher Banken) on the other.

On 20 June 1997 the management of one of Germany's leading chemical companies, Bayer AG, and the company works council [1] (Gesamtbetriebsrat) - politically supported by the chemical workers' union, IG Chemie-Papier-Keramik- signed a new works agreement [2] to save production sites and employment in Germany. The central aim of the agreement is to guarantee production at the five German Bayer plants in Leverkusen, Dormagen, Uerdingen, Elberfeld and Brunsbüttel. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/efemiredictionary/company-works-council-0 [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/efemiredictionary/works-agreement-0

The confederation of Critical Shareholders (Kritische Aktionäre) is an alliance of about 35 small shareholders' groups and other non-governmental organisations such as environmental, consumer and anti-militaristic groups. Currently, the Critical Shareholders are active in about 40 German corporations including the most important German banks as well as various industrial corporations in the automobile, electronic, chemical and food industries. They can call on up to 5% of the votes cast in some of the companies.

According to a recent study of 1997 provisions by the Institute for Economics and Social Science (Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut, WSI), most employees in Germany receive a collectively agreed holiday bonus, though there are significant sectoral differences in the amount of the bonus. While most employees are due 30 days' paid leave per year, the average annual holiday bonus for a blue collar worker in a middle-range income group ranges between DEM 200 and DEM 2,587.

On 22 April 1997 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a judgment stating that some provisions of the German Civil Law (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch,BGB) as well as the German Labour Court Law (Arbeitsgerichtsgesetz, ArbGG) offend against the "Council Directive on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion and working conditions" (76/207/EEC). The Directive which was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 9 February 1976 proclaimed that the Member States shall put into effect the "principle of equal treatment" (§ 1) which means "that there shall be no discrimination whatsoever on grounds of sex either directly or indirectly" (§ 2).

On 25 April 1997, the Saxon metalworking employers' association (Arbeitgeberverband der Sächsischen Metall- und Elektroindustrie, VSME) and the metalworkers' trade union, IG Metall, signed new collective agreements for the 87,000 employees in the Saxon metal industry. The agreements include a new agreement on wages and salaries, new framework agreements for white- and blue-collar workers, and a new agreement to secure employment (Beschäftigungssicherungstarifvertrag). The agreements mainly follow the pattern of the agreements which have already been agreed in other regions of eastern Germany, and conclude the 1997 collective bargaining round in east German metalworking.

On 29 April 1997, the management and works council at Mohn GmbH, a subsidiary of one of Germany's biggest media corporations, Bertelsmann, signed a works agreement [1]- known as the "Pact for partnership 1997" - for the 1,700 or so employees at the Mohn printing works in Gütersloh. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/efemiredictionary/works-agreement-0

On 29 April 1997, the management and works council at Mohn GmbH, a subsidiary of one of Germany's biggest media corporations, Bertelsmann, signed a works agreement [1]- known as the "Pact for partnership 1997" - for the 1,700 or so employees at the Mohn printing works in Gütersloh. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/efemiredictionary/works-agreement-0

Just one week after the German social partners and Government found a compromise on the future development of the German mining industry (DE9703104F [1]) the Ruhr region (one of Germany's oldest industrial areas) was again the focus of social conflict. On 18 March 1997 the second-largest German steel producer, Krupp-Hoesch, announced plans for a hostile takeover of its main competitor, Thyssen. Krupp-Hoesch made an offer to the Thyssen shareholders to buy their shares for DEM 435 each, which was about 25% higher than the current quotation on the German stock exchange. The president of Krupp-Hoesch, Gerhard Cromme, stated that the acquisition of Thyssen would create a lot of synergy effects, and could help to improve the international competitiveness of the German steel industry. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/miners-revolt-ends-in-corporatist-compromise