Schulten, Thorsten

On 15 August 2000, the German Food and Restaurant Workers' Union (Gewerkschaft Nahrung Genuss Gaststätten, NGG), the Austria n Union of Agricultural, Food, Beverage and Tobacco Workers (Gewerkschaf t Agrar- Nahrung – Genuss, ANG) and Hotel, Restaurant and Personal Services Workers' Union (Gewerkschaft Hotel, Gastgewerbe, Persönlicher Dienst, HGPD) signed a new agreement on closer cooperation and mutual recognition of union membership. As a result of the agreement, employees from Austria who work in Germany will have access to the full services of the German trade union and vice versa.

On 11 May 2000, the sectoral employers' association, Bundesverband Druck und Medien (BVDM), and the German Media and Printing Union, IG Medien, signed new collective agreements for blue-collar workers in the west German printing industry. The deals include the following provisions:

On 30 March 2000, the construction workers' trade union IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU) and the sector's two employers' associations, Hauptverband der Deutschen Bauindustrie (HDB) and Zentralverband des deutschen Baugewerbes (ZDB) concluded new collective agreements for about 780,000 employees in the west German construction industry. The new construction agreements include the following provisions:

On 3 March 2000, the German-based manufacturer of writing, drawing and painting products, Faber-Castell, signed a framework agreement on workers' rights [1] in the company's worldwide operations. The trade union side signatories were the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW) and the German metalworker's union IG Metall (which took over union representation with Faber-Castell in Germany after merging with the former Wood and Plastic Workers Union (Gewerkschaft Holz und Kuntstoff, GHK)). The pencil producer has about 5,500 employees working in more than 100 countries in all continents. In the new agreement, Faber-Castell has committed itself to establishing employment and working conditions which respect the main Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in all its production and sales companies. [1] http://www.ifbww.org/~fitbb/INFO_PUBS_SOLIDAR/FaxNews_157.html

On 13 March 2000, after more than nine weeks of industrial action at the measurement and control technology producer Foxboro Eckardt GmbH, the works council and the management reached an agreement on future production at the company's location in Stuttgart, under which around 130 of the current 190 jobs will be safeguarded. The reduction of the workforce will be managed by voluntary departures or early retirement based on a "social plan" which was worked out by the IG Metall metalworkers' union and the regional metalworking employers' association, Verband der Metallindustrie Baden-Würtemberg, (VMI).

On 11 January 1999, the IG Metall metalworkers' union presented its 2000 bargaining demands, calling for an overall increase of 5.5%, to include both pay rises and a financial contribution to the introduction of a new early retirement scheme at 60 (DE9910217F [1]). IG Metall justified its claims on the grounds of an assumed increase in prices of 1.5%, a predicted increase in productivity of 3.5% and a small "redistribution component" of 0.5% which is justified by the high profits in the metalworking industry. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-policies-undefined-industrial-relations/ig-metall-proposal-for-early-retirement-at-60-is-strongly-disputed

On 3 February 2000, the management boards of the UK-based mobile phone group Vodafone AirTouch and the German telecommunications and engineering group Mannesmann AG reached an agreement on terms for a recommended merger [1] which brought a three-month takeover battle to an end. In November 1999, Vodafone had announced for the first time its intention to make a takeover bid for Mannesmann (DE9911220F [2]). After the Mannesmann management had refused the bid, Vodafone addressed its offer directly to the Mannesmann shareholders. When it became clear that Vodafone's attempt at a hostile takeover might succeed, the Mannesmann management changed its strategy and agreed to negotiate the terms for a "friendly takeover". The final agreement is based on an improved offer for Mannesmann shareholders to exchange their shares in the ratio of 58.96 Vodafone AirTouch shares for one Mannesmann share (the previous offer 53.7 to one). Furthermore, the agreement defines some terms for the integration of the two companies and their further strategic development. Thereby, it has been determined that, for example, Düsseldorf will be retained as one of two dual European headquarters with responsibility for Mannesmann's existing continental European mobile and fixed-line telephone business. [1] http://www.vodafone-update.com/press/press040200.html [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/vodafones-hostile-takeover-bid-for-mannesmann-highlights-debate-on-the-german-capitalist-model

In the 1990s, Germany saw only moderate pay increases which lagged clearly behind the overall development of the economy, according to a recent study by the Institute for Economic and Social Research (Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut, WSI) ("Tarifpolitik und Bündnis für Arbeit", Reinhard Bispinck and Thorsten Schulten, in WSI-Mitteilungen Vol. 52, No. 12 (1999) [1]. As tables 1 and 2 below indicate, between 1992 and 1999 the average increase in wages and salaries was, in six years out of eight, below the so-called "cost-neutral distributive margin" (kostenneutraler Verteilungsspielraum) – that is the increase in prices plus the increase in productivity. As a result, the share of labour income in the national income (the "wage ratio") declined from 75% in 1993 to 72.2% in 1998. [1] http://www.boeckler.de/ebib/volltexte/WSI_Mitteilungen-1999-12-p870n.pdf

On 15 December 1999, the executive board of the largest east German technology corporation Jenoptik AG and the IG Metall metalworkers' union, together with the German White Collar Workers' Union (Deutsche Angestelltengewerkschaft, DAG), concluded a new company agreement for the employees of the Jenoptik administrative centre and the Jenoptik establishments in Jena (Thuringia). The negotiations over this new company agreement [1] took more than 15 months and were accompanied by various disputes and workers' protests. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/efemiredictionary/company-agreement-4

In October 1999, a package of company and works agreements was signed at the filtration and weighing products manufacturer, Sartorius AG, which is located in Göttingen (Lower-Saxony). The core of this package was a new company agreement [1] to safeguard production sites (Standortsicherungstarifvertrag), which was concluded by Sartorius management and the Lower-Saxony district organisation of the IG Metall metalworkers' union. The agreement is backdated, running from September 1999 until 30 August 2001. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/efemiredictionary/company-agreement-4