Schulten, Thorsten

On 22 April 1997, the management board at Ford Germany and the company works council (Gesamtbetriebsrat) signed a new works agreement to secure investment. In the agreement, Ford management promises new investments at the five German Ford plants at Cologne, Düren, Berlin, Wülfrath and Saarlouis. Although the exact figures have not been published it is estimated that investments will total about DEM 10 billion in the next few years.

On 2 April 1997 it became public that during the ongoing collective bargaining at the German automobile company, Volkswagen, management had made a proposal to create a new "internal temporary employment agency" (Zeitarbeitsgesellschaft). Depending on the incoming orders, the agency's newly hired employees would be set to work at the different Volkswagen plants. Volkswagen proposed to pay the new temporary employees under the terms and conditions of the current branch-level collective agreement in the metalworking industry.

On 3 March 1997 the UK's second largest general trade union, GMB, and the German chemical workers' union IG Chemie-Papier-Keramik signed a unique agreement on joint union membership. The agreement offers members of both organisations, when working in each other's countries, the same support and advice enjoyed by their own members.

On 6 February 1997, the Bundesverband Druck employers' association and the Industriegewerkschaft Medien trade union signed two new nationwide collective agreements for the 130,000 manual workers in the German printing industry. The first agreement covers the general developments of wages, and the second agreement is a renewal of the sector's general framework agreement on employment conditions [1] (Manteltarifvertrag). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/efemiredictionary/framework-agreement-on-employment-conditions