Vogel, Sandra
German labour market shows signs of recovery
02 July 2006
On 26 April 2006, the Association of German Economic Research Institutes
(Arbeitsgemeinschaft deutscher wirtschaftswissenschaftlicher
Forschungsinstitute e.V., ARGE [1]) published its semi-annual economic report
(in German, 591Kb PDF) [2], which stated that Germany was experiencing an
economic upturn since the beginning of 2006. According to the report,
forecasts predict an increase of German gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.8%
in 2006 and 1.2% in 2007. Germany’s economic recovery is expected to ease
some of the problems that are currently affecting the country’s labour
market. The number of unemployed people is expected to decrease from
4,580,000 persons (10.6%) in 2006 to 4,440,000 (10.2%) in 2007. On 11 May
2006, the German Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt
Deutschland, Destatis [3]) confirmed in a statement to the press (in German)
[4] that the country’s GDP increased by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2006
compared with the last quarter in 2005. According to Destatis, rising private
consumption expenditure and higher gross fixed capital formation have led to
the economic upturn. The Cologne Institute for Economic Research (Institut
der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, IW [5]) estimated in its spring forecast (in
German, 171Kb PDF) [6] that the labour force would increase by 240,000 people
in 2006.
[1] http://www.arge-institute.de
[2] http://www.diw.de/deutsch/dasinstitut/docs/GD_FJ_2006_ARGE_komplett_oSp.pdf
[3] http://www.destatis.de/
[4] http://www.destatis.de/presse/deutsch/pm2006/p2000121.htm
[5] http://www.iwkoeln.de/
[6] http://www.iwkoeln.de/data/pdf/pub/pm16_06iwd.pdf
Impact of collective agreements on continuous training
26 June 2006
On 22 April 2006, the employers’ association for the metalworking and
electrical industry (Gesamtmetall) and the German Metalworkers’ Union
(Industriegewerkschaft Metall, IG Metall) signed a new collective agreement
(in German) [1] in North Rhine-Westphalia, containing measures that aim to
foster continuous training. While employer organisations [2] and trade unions
[3] disagree on whether collective agreements on continuous vocational
training [4] are necessary, recent studies reveal that the impact of such
policies is quite insignificant.
[1] http://www.gesamtmetall.de/Gesamtmetall/MEOnline.nsf/c31231b8c4ee15bcc12569f2004efcfb/60cd43b741c3099ec12571590041dce0!OpenDocument
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/employer-organisations
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/trade-unions
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/vocational-training
Federal Labour Court endorses union’s rights
09 May 2006
On 28 March 2006, the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG [1])
finally approved the right of the Christian Metalworkers’ Union
(Christliche Gewerkschaft Metall, CGM [2]) to conclude collective agreements
(BAG press release (in German) [3]). Disputes over CGM’s trade union rights
arose after it had concluded several collective agreements on pay and working
hours with employer organisations [4] in the metalworking industry. As these
agreements competed with those negotiated by the German Metalworkers’ Union
(Industriegewerkschaft Metall, IG Metall [5]), the latter appealed to the
labour court. The BAG judgement brought a 10-year period of litigation to an
end.
[1] http://www.bundesarbeitsgericht.de/
[2] http://www.cgm.de/
[3] http://juris.bundesarbeitsgericht.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bag&Art=pm&sid=27fa62566ec1254159825762abd98e1e&nr=10933&pos=0&anz=1
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/employer-organisations
[5] http://www.igmetall.de/
Controversy over works council election at SAP
20 April 2006
On 2 March 2006, the employees of SAP, Germany’s leading business software
solutions and services company, held a staff meeting at which a proposal to
initiate a works council election was discussed. An overwhelming majority of
over 90% of the 5,600 employees who attended the meeting rejected this
proposal. Only 506 workers voted for the election procedure to take place.
The ballot result triggered intense debate about whether the establishment of
a works council at SAP [1] should be enforced by a court ruling or,
alternatively, whether the Works Constitution Act
(/Betriebsverfassungsgesetz/) needs to be amended so that it can deal with
cases such as this. On 14 March 2006, the employee representatives on the
supervisory board of SAP eventually decided to organise a works council
election themselves.
[1] http://www.sap.com/germany/index.epx
Company-level alliance for jobs agreed at Ford
20 April 2006
On 6 March 2006, Ford announced that a company-level alliance aimed at
safeguarding jobs had been reached; the agreement applies to Ford’s two
German sites, in Cologne and Saarlouis. The agreement between management and
the works council was presented to employees at extraordinary meetings, and
involves a promise by the company not to undertake collective dismissals
until 2011 in return for wage concessions by employees. The deal covers
18,500 employees in Cologne and 6,400 employees in Saarlouis. In November
2005, Ford declared that 1,200 employees in Germany were to be made redundant
by the end of 2005. Dismissals could, however, be avoided if employees took
voluntary redundancy; any such workers would receive financial remuneration.