The rise of professional unions in Germany. Challenge and threat for established industrial relations?

• Date: 01 May 2018
• Published date: 01 May 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12215
• Author: Berndt Keller

The rise of professional unions in Germany.

Challenge and threat for established

industrial relations?

†

Berndt Keller

ABSTRACT

The author analyses the rise of professional unions, one of the most remarkable devel-

opments in German labour movement since the early 2000s. By means of strikes, they

managed to get officially accepted as autonomous partners for collective bargaining.

The author asks whether their emergence challenges or even threats the established

systems of industrial relations.

1 INTRODUCTION

After WWII the re-establishment of German unions followed, with few exceptions,

the principle of industrial unions and unitary unionism.

1

This organisational form

resulted in a relatively small number of unions and established their monopoly of

representation. This pattern remained remarkably stable for more than four decades

whereas mergers and acquisitions happened quite frequently in other countries

(Waddington, 2005). Only in the mid/late 1990s, in times of falling membership,

shrinking financial resources and decreasing coverage rates at company as well as

sectoral level, a wave of mergers and acquisitions significantly reduced the number

of affiliates of the German Trade Union Federation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund

—DGB) from 16 to eight (Keller, 2005). Nowadays, the degree of concentration

of German unions is among the highest in the EU (European Commission, 2011).

Since the early/mid 2000s another remarkable and lasting trend in the opposite di-

rection has dominated developments within the labour movement. A small number of

professional associations successfully initiated strikes and managed to improve their

status to professional unions

2

(Schroeder et al., 2011). Finally, ‘their’employers had

to accept them as autonomous partners for collective bargaining.

❒Berndt Keller, University Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany. Correspondence should be addressed

to: Prof.em. Dr. Berndt Keller, University Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz/Germany.

Email: berndt.karl.keller@uni-konstanz.de

†

Earlier drafts of the paper were presented in 2007 at ISA RC 10 International Conference, the IWH/IAB-

Workshop on Labour Market Policy and the Institute of Sociology, TU Dortmund.

1

The three exceptions were Confederation of Christian Unions(Christlicher Gewerkschaftsbund—CGB), German

Civil Service Association, nowadays German Civil Service Association and Bargaining Union (Beamtenbund und

Tarifunion—DBB) and, until 2001, Union of Salaried Employees (Deutsche Angestelltengewerkschaft—DAG).

Nowadays, DGB affiliates organise more than 80 per cent of all union members.

2

Throughout the paper we prefer the more frequently used term professional unions (as translation of

Berufsgewerkschaften) instead of sectional unions (Spartengewerkschaften). Furthermore, their status makes

a difference for our ter minology. We always call them profess ional associations before their rec ognition as au-

tonomous bargaining partners andreserve the term professional unionsfor the period after their recognition.

Industrial Relations Journal 49:3, 278–294

ISSN 0019-8692

© 2018 Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

This article elaborates on these recent developments under special consideration of

their outcomes. The majority of contributions debate these issues from a purely legal

point of view (Schwarzwälder, 2013, Däubler and Bepler, 2016 provide broad summa-

ries). In contrastto this legal view, we arguefrom an industrial relations perspective that

has been widely neglectedso far.

3

We do not deal with case studieson individual profes-

sional unions(Greef, 2012; Kalass, 2012)but focus on more generalassessments. We use

a multi-disciplinary approach that includes organisation theories (Pfefferand Salancik,

2003), various power theories (Gumbrell-McCormick and Hyman, 2013), political

economy (Olson, 1982) as well as bargaining theory (Traxler, 1995, 1998).

The decisive questions refer to the controversial consequences: Are theseprofessional

unions challenging or even threatening theestablished system of interest representation,

especially the monopoly of industrial unions and/or their collective bargaining at sec-

toral level? If so is it the case,as frequently assumed, in general or only withintheir spe-

cific organisationaldomains? How can their originallyunexpected and obviously lasting

success not only be described but also explained? Our leading hypothesis is that the rise

of professional unions does not constitute a general threat for industrial unions but

changes sectoral industrial relations in their organisational domains to a considerable

degree. The first section describes these unions and their emergence. Then, recent legal

and political developments are indicated. Next, the existing empirical evidence is pre-

sented. A short summary and outlook concludes the article.

The article is based not only on an encompassing review of the available multidis-

ciplinary literature but on a long-term qualitative analysis of various other sources of

information. We include extensive reports in wide spread national newspapers, espe-

cially Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Handelsblatt, Süddeutsche Zeitung and

Tageszeitung. Besides, we use different internet resources, such as Spiegel online

and LabourNet Germany that present profound background information frequently

not, or at least not thoroughly provided elsewhere. Their assessments differ and are

needed to reach a balanced opinion. Furthermore, we make use of usually not cov-

ered sources of information (internal documents, written statements on general trends

or specific issues such as ongoing strikes, detailed internet presentation and press

releases provided by professional unions or groups of (sometimes dissenting) mem-

bers. Some interviews with academic experts contribute to the more profound under-

standing of informal processes.

2 THE RISE OF (SOME) PROFESSIONAL UNIONS AND SOME

EXPLANATIONS

2.1 The point of departure

There are no strict and binding regulations for collective bargaining structures and

procedures in the Constitution (Grundgesetz) or the Collective Agreements Act

(Tarifvertragsgesetz). Therefore, since the mid-1950s, the Federal Labour Court

(Bundesarbeitsgericht—BAG) developed and, for several decades, strictly maintained

the rule ‘one company, one collective agreement’that evidently favoured industrial

3

The major exception is Schroeder et al. (2011). The authors deal with the early stages of professional

unions’autonomous action and rely on selected case studies. Our time frame is longer and, thus, covers

the changed circumstances, such as the more recent conflict on bargaining unity. In addition, we focus

on comparative dimensions not on individual unions.

279The rise of professional unions in Germany.

© 2018 Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd