Germany - 2011

Population:
Capital: Berlin
The main reason for concern is still the fact that civil servants do not generally have 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 , even if some initial success has been achieved. Despite solid industrial relations industrial relations The individual and collective relations and dealings between workers and employers at the workplace, as well as the institutional interaction between unions, employers and also the government.

See social dialogue , some employers continue to be hostile towards unions. As a result, union members experience discrimination while some negotiations are held with yellow and unrepresentative unions with only limited membership.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)

reported violations - 2011

Murders: none reported
Attempted Murders: none reported
Threats: none reported
Injuries: none reported
Arrests: none reported
Imprisonments: none reported
Dismissals: none reported
Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Trade union rights in law

The German Basic Law guarantees the right of association and recognises the right to 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
. Implementing legislation regulates the right to union activity within a company, the general conditions for 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 compliance with collective agreements. Collective agreements are binding on the members of the corresponding union and employers’ association. Civil servants, including teachers, do not enjoy 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 . The ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights has been calling on the German Federal Government since 1959 to grant 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 to those civil servants not fulfilling a role of authority in the name of the state. In this connection, employees with civil-servant status continue to be denied the right to 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
, despite criticism from the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights . However, civil servants covered by collective agreements are granted full 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 .
Additional information regarding the legislation
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Berlin

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

In practice

First important victory in the battle for civil servants’ right to strike: 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.
Collective bargaining: 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 preconditions, for instance to secure jobs. Where wage concessions have been made, it has been mainly in exchange for job security. One problem is wage and social dumping through collective agreements that were concluded by yellow unions with limited membership and hence little means to assert themselves. Slowly, doubts are being cast on this practice by the courts. 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. In December 2010, the Federal Labour Court of Germany denied the CGZP the right to conclude collective agreements, on the grounds that it claims to regulate interim work for all sectors but does not have member unions covering all sectors.
Anti-union employers:

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.

ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population:
Capital: Berlin

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
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