On 31 January 2005, the employers’ association for the German metalworking and electrical industry, Gesamtmetall, agreed to admit, with immediate effect, affiliations of establishments that are not bound by sectoral collective agreements - known as 'Ohne Tarifbindung' (OT-status) - into its ranks. Gesamtmetall now also represents associations without collective bargaining functions. The step has ended a debate on this subject that had been going on within the umbrella organisation for some time. Union representatives criticised the change.
On 31 January, an extra-ordinary meeting of members of Gesamtmetall, the employers’association for the German metalworking and electrical industry, decided to allow, with immediate effect, associations of establishments that are not formally bound by sectoral collective agreements (OT-Verbände) (DE0212202F) to become members too (http://www.gesamtmetall.de/Gesamtmetall/MEOnline.nsf/CUSLookUp_Web_News_Category/659D3D70E03A5DEAC1256FA40051851B?Open).
All regional organisations that form part of the employers’ association Gesamtmetall have had, since 2004 at the latest, affiliations for establishments not formally bound by sectoral collective agreements. That Gesamtmetall, as the nationwide umbrella organisation, is now open to groups of establishments without these formal obligations completes this development and rounds off the responsibilities of Gesamtmetall as the representative of social-policy matters for the German metalworking and electrical industries. According to their press statement, 'Gesamtmetall will, from now on, be comprised of both organisational forms'.
At the end of November, press reports stated that discussions were underway in Gesamtmetall to accept and represent associations of firms not formally bound to the terms of the sectoral agreement. Hansjörg Döpp, the chief executive officer of Gesamtmetall in North Rhine-Westphalia, confirmed to the Financial Times Deutschland on 21 November 2004 that the inclusion of such associations in Gesamtmetall’s member organisations was being discussed. He also stated that, 'until now, we have seen ourselves as an organisation only for firms with sectoral collective agreements. The change in thinking is necessary, because there is also a desire to represent all companies.' By speaking for all firms, establishments in associations for those without collective agreements would also have the right to contribute to discussions on themes such as new training vocations. 'Until now, firms without collective agreements have not been asked their views', Döpp said in November. At the level of social policy, the move was not intended, according to Döpp, to create competition for the Confederation of German Employers’ Federations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände, BDA), but to provide bespoke solutions that firms in the industry required.
According to newspaper reports, the German Metalworkers’ Union (IG Metall) has accused Gesamtmetall of supporting the erosion of sectoral collective agreements, firstly, by agreeing to accept firms without such agreements, and, secondly, by providing special abrogation rights. A spokesman for IG Metall, Geordios Arwanitidis spoke of an 'unfriendly act' by Gesamtmetall and of a 'further undermining of sectoral collective agreements'.
According to the above mentioned statement by Gesamtmetall of 31 January 2005 relating to the whole of Germany, there are, at present, in the associations for firms without sectoral collective agreements about 2,000 firms with approximately 200,000 employees. The member organisations within Gesamtmetall that represent firms with sectoral collective agreements have, in total, about 5,000 firms with just under 2 million workers.
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