Germany
The ITUC affiliate in Germany is the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB).
Germany ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association
freedom of association
The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 1957 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
(1949) in 1956.
Legal
Freedom of association / Right to organise
Freedom of association
The right to freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.
Others restrictions
- Others restrictions
- Self-employed workers do not have the right to freedom of association.
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is enshrined in the Constitution.
Barriers to the recognition of collective bargaining agents
- Excessive requirements in respect to trade unions’ representativity or minimum number of members required to bargaining collectively
- Germany has no criteria regarding representativeness that are laid down by law. The right of a trade union to conclude collective agreements can be contested in court where there is doubt about the trade union’s ability to use all necessary means to conduct a wage dispute.
Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining
- Exclusion of certain matters from the scope of bargaining (e.g. wages, hours)
- Collective agreements shall refer to the employment relationship, enterprise standards and the standards laid down in the Works Constitution Act.
Limitations or ban on collective bargaining in certain sectors
- Other civil servants and public employees
- While the working conditions of public employees (Angestellte) can be established via collective bargaining, all civil servants (Beamte) are denied the right to bargain collectively.
- Other categories
- Self-employed workers do not have the right to collective bargaining.
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution.
Barriers to lawful strike actions
- Other undue, unreasonable or unjustified prerequisites
- All means of peaceful negotiation must have been exhausted before a legal strike can be called.
Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions
- Restrictions with respect to type of strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action (e.g. pickets, wild-cat, working to rule, sit-down, go-slow go-slow A form of industrial action whereby the workers deliberately reduce their pace of work in order to restrict output.
See work-to-rule ) - Wildcat strikes are not allowed.
Undermining of the recourse to strike actions or their effectiveness
- Discrimination in favour of non-strikers
- Employers may grant a special allowance to those choosing not to strike.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors
- Undue restrictions for “public servants”
- All civil servants, irrespective of their functions, are denied the right to strike. Since 1959, the ILO has been asking the government to grant the right to strike to civil servants who do not exercise authority on behalf of the state.
- Discretionary determination or excessively long list of “essential services
essential services
Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
” in which the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is prohibited or severely restricted - What constitutes an essential service is determined on a case by case basis, and must be agreed by the parties.
- Other limitations (e.g. in EPZ export processing zone A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws. s)
- Self-employed workers do not have the right to strike.
In practice
The global community of broadcasting unions affiliated to UNI Global Union stood in solidarity with colleagues on strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
at German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.
Around 3,000 employees of the German public broadcasters participated in strikes and actions nationwide on 18 September 2019. These actions followed a call from the UNI affiliate ver.di, which represents workers in the services sector. They were in response to the stalled collective bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
with the national broadcasters. Many programs of the regional broadcasters belonging to the national broadcaster ARD (regional broadcasters such as WDR, SWR, MDR, SR, BR and NDR) went black.
Ver.di demanded a clear commitment to public service broadcasting and its special role in democracy that is more important than ever. The union feared that if conditions were further weakened, it would undermine the capacity of broadcasters to fulfil their public service mission.
UNI MEI supported ver.di and colleagues on strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
at ARD and ZDF in sharing the concerns of colleagues that too many leaders in the public service institutions as well as in state governments and parliaments had bowed to populist pressure instead of standing up for and defending the independence of public service broadcasters.
Unions and work councils have been reporting an increase in interference by employers in legitimate activities. For example, management of the Korean automobile producer Hyundai’s plant in Rüsselsheim tried to sack and to intimidate works council
works council
1. A body elected to represent the interests of workers within a workplace through communication and consultation with the employer e.g. concerning working conditions and health and safety issues. 2. A joint council composed of representatives of both workers and the employer for workplace-level discussions on matters of common interest.
members. The representative union IG Metall filed a complaint with the National Contact Point of the OECD in Berlin for violation of the Guidelines for multinational enterprises. However, Hyundai refuses to engage in the mediation
mediation
A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.
See arbitration, conciliation
process that would help in resolving the dispute.
The company Neupack, which has plants in Hamburg and Rotenburg an der Wümme, continuously interfered in lawful strikes. After workers received no pay increases and paid sick leave over years, they unionised and went on strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
demanding their rights. Management contracted migrant workers in order to replace the workers on strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
and to undermine the effectiveness of the strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
. Moreover, private detectives were hired to follow works council
works council
1. A body elected to represent the interests of workers within a workplace through communication and consultation with the employer e.g. concerning working conditions and health and safety issues. 2. A joint council composed of representatives of both workers and the employer for workplace-level discussions on matters of common interest.
leaders whom the company tried to dismiss on the basis of their activism.
There are cases where employers have established yellow unions in order to weaken independent unions. For example, the company Siemens invested 50 million Euros into the Syndicate of the independent works council works council 1. A body elected to represent the interests of workers within a workplace through communication and consultation with the employer e.g. concerning working conditions and health and safety issues. 2. A joint council composed of representatives of both workers and the employer for workplace-level discussions on matters of common interest. (AUB) in order to create competition to the IG Metall (Metalworkers Union). The Chairman of the AUB was later imprisoned because of corruption and fiscal fraud. However, AUB is still active in companies like ALDI and HYUNDIA.
In April 2013, 97 per cent of Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft members voted in favour of strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
action at the Amazon plant in Leipzig. Management repeatedly refused to start wage negotiations and encouraged its employees to join work councils rather than trade unions. The company has 1,200 permanent and 800 temporary workers in Leipzig.
In June 2012, the Damp Hospital group dismissed 1,000 workers to undermine strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
action in relation to a labour dispute
labour dispute
See industrial dispute
. Management justified the dismissal by saying the workers “failed to comply with their contractual obligations”. A minimum service
minimum service
The operations needed in a public or private establishment during a strike, normally to avoid compromising the life or basic needs of the population or causing irreversible damages.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
agreement is in force and 48 hours’ notice must be given in advance of a strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
.
Germany has a long tradition of collective bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
. However, over time opening clauses have been established in many sectors between the collective bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
parties, making it possible for companies to deviate from collective agreements under certain circumstances, for instance to secure jobs.
Where wage concessions have been made, they have mainly been offered in exchange for job security. One problem is wage and social dumping through collective agreements concluded by yellow unions or unions with a limited membership and hence limited ability to assert themselves. Labour courts are increasingly casting doubts on this practice.
One such pseudo union, the Collective Bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
Association of Christian Trade Unions (CGZP) has for many years set low-wage standards in the temporary employment sector. After the Federal Labour Court of Germany denied the CGZP the right to conclude collective agreements and thus rejected its trade union status, Berlin’s regional labour court confirmed that all collective agreements concluded by that union were invalid.
In a similar case, the regional labour court in Hamm ruled that the Trade Union Wood and Plastic (GKH), an affiliate of the Association of Christian Trade Unions, does not have the right to conclude collective agreements. For years this pseudo union concluded collective agreements throughout Germany agreeing low wages, long working hours and poor working conditions with employers’ organisations in the carpentry, joinery and model-making sectors.
Even though the Düsseldorf Administrative Court ruled that teachers who gain tenure as civil servants should not be punished if they go on strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
, the legislator has taken no recognisable initiative to at last enshrine civil servants’ right to strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
in the law.
Systematic discrimination by the state is unheard of in Germany. But despite a long tradition of unions, collective bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
and co-determination, numerous companies show a lot of hostility towards unions. In such cases, external union representatives can be denied access to companies and employers can engage in anti-union propaganda. Moreover, employers are regularly discriminating against unions, resulting in dismissals, degradations, transfers and discrimination in the employment of active union members, especially those involved in establishing works councils.
In some cases, the 2010 works council works council 1. A body elected to represent the interests of workers within a workplace through communication and consultation with the employer e.g. concerning working conditions and health and safety issues. 2. A joint council composed of representatives of both workers and the employer for workplace-level discussions on matters of common interest. elections were blocked by employers, e.g. at the concrete factory of Westerwelle in Herford. Ultimately, this backfired on the company Westerwelle. With voter turnout of 95%, the employees of Westerwelle clearly showed how important their voting rights for the works council works council 1. A body elected to represent the interests of workers within a workplace through communication and consultation with the employer e.g. concerning working conditions and health and safety issues. 2. A joint council composed of representatives of both workers and the employer for workplace-level discussions on matters of common interest. were to them. Legally, such a blockade is not merely a petty offence but rather a criminal act, and one that is punishable with up to one year’s imprisonment.
Some significant headway has been made in the fight against the strict ban on strikes by civil servants. In an individual case, the Düsseldorf Administrative Court decided that teachers who gain tenure as civil servants should not be punished if they go on strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
. With that, it set aside the disciplinary punishment in late 2010 of a teacher who had participated in a demonstration.
There is no systematic discrimination by the state in Germany; however, there have been repeated cases of anti-union discrimination
anti-union discrimination
Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
by employers. This can include dismissals, demotions, transfers and discrimination in recruitment of trade union activists, particularly when they want to establish works councils. The “Gesellschaft für Deutsche Sprache” (German Language Association) selected the term “infected by works councils” (“betriebsratsverseucht”) as “worst term of the year” in 2009. The term represents an attitude “which has unfortunately become widespread”, as the spokesperson explained to the jury. The jury had heard the term on a TV programme, during which an employee of the building chain Bauhaus reported that the term was used by department managers when colleagues from a subsidiary with a works council
works council
1. A body elected to represent the interests of workers within a workplace through communication and consultation with the employer e.g. concerning working conditions and health and safety issues. 2. A joint council composed of representatives of both workers and the employer for workplace-level discussions on matters of common interest.
wanted to move to one without any workers’ representation.
Regardless of a rich tradition of trade unionism, collective bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
and workplace representation, there are plenty of companies that are quite hostile to trade unions. In these cases, external trade union representatives, for instance, are not granted access to the workplace and employers engage in anti-union propaganda.