Tariff commitment and in-house representation of interests : current findings from the IAB Establishment Panel 2010

Abstract

"On the basis of the data currently available in the IAB Establishment Panel, this article begins by outlining the tariff commitment of the establishments and the employees. According to this, in 2010 roughly 56% of the employees in the western part of Germany and about 37% of those in the eastern part worked in establishments that were subject to collective wage agreements. In both parts of the country, the commitment to collective wage agreements has shown a noticeable downwards tendency since 1996, even if recent developments are not so clear to follow. Secondly, the distribution of works council members and in-house employee representations is examined. In comparison to the year before, here we find a stable range of constituted worker participation: 45% of the employees in private enterprise in the western part of Germany and 37% in the east currently have a works council. But also here a declining degree of coverage can also be detected over time. Information has been available since 2004 on alternative forms of representation. No increase in these institutions can be seen for this period. The concluding common consideration of both the in-house and the sectoral levels of representations of interest indicate widespread in-house gaps in representation as well as growing 'blank spots' in the collective wage and worker-participation landscape." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Ellguth, P. & Kohaut, S. (2011): Tarifbindung und betriebliche Interessenvertretung. Aktuelle Ergebnisse aus dem IAB-Betriebspanel 2010. In: WSI-Mitteilungen, Vol. 64, No. 5, p. 242-247. DOI:10.5771/0342-300X-2011-5-242