German chems, union to appeal to govt on labour law principle

02 November 2010 16:35  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS)--Germany’s chemical employers and chemical union IG BCE plan to launch a joint appeal to the country’s government and parliament to legally enshrine an important labour law principle, they said on Tuesday.

The principle – called 'Tarifeinheit' - stipulates that there is only one collective bargaining deal per plant.

Earlier this year, Germany’s top labour court said in a far-reaching ruling it would no longer recognise the principle, thus opening the door to separate collective agreement for various groups of workers within a plant or facility.

Chemical employers and unions said the principle was an “indispensible condition” for a functioning collective bargaining system in Europe’s largest economy.

Without the principle, separate specialised unions could disrupt collective bargaining in the chemical and other industries, they said.

An effective and reliable collective bargaining system was critical in securing employment and industrial production in Germany, they said.

In fact, “innovative collective bargaining” had played a key role in helping Germany overcome the 2008-2009 financial and economic crisis, they added.

German commentators have said that the labour court’s decision would strengthen smaller professional interest groups and unions - such as doctors, air traffic controllers or train drivers - in their dealings with employers.

Without Tarifeinheit, Germany’s collective bargaining would become “balkanised”, raising the spectre of endless strikes such as the UK experienced in the 1970s when some unions paralysed that country, they said.

The principle was at issue during the 2007-2008 strike actions by German train drivers that hit chemicals shipments. The drivers were pressing their own collective agreement, separate from other rail workers.

In the ongoing 2010 rail wage talks, German train drives union GDL is again pressing for a separate industry-wide collective deal for its 20,000 members.

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