Trade Union Membership and Works Councils in West Germany**/Mitgliedschaft in Gewerkschaften Und Betriebsräte in Westdeutschland

Zusammenfassung

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The fraction of works councillors belonging to a trade union in Germany is much higher than union density among employees. If works councils represent the face of unions, union membership of employees should be related positively to the existence of works councils and their proximity to unions. Using data from the German Socio-Economic-Panel SOEP for West Germany we find that (a) works councillors exhibit a higher probability of being a union member, (b) the mere existence of a works council within an establishment has no significant impact on union membership and (c) a ten percent decrease in the average share of unionised works councillors coincides with a ten percent fall in the probability of being a union member. Hence, the decline in the unionisation of works councillors and the fall in union density in West Germany are closely linked.

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Auszug

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Trade Union Membership and Works Councils in West Germany**/Mitgliedschaft in Gewerkschaften Und Betriebsräte in Westdeutschland

1. Introduction

Why has trade union membership declined so dramatically in Germany since unification, dropping from approximately 13.7 million in 1990 to 8.5 million members in 2005? Age, sex, or occupational characteristics have consistently been found to explain an individual's probability of being a trade union member. However, these determinants of membership have not changed sufficiently over time to explain the dramatic decline in union density (Fitzenberger et al. 2006; Schnabel/Wagner 2006a). Among the explanatory variables subjected to empirical scrutiny, a particularly relevant one especially in the German industrial relations context has often been missing, namely the impact of employee representation at the establishment level.

While the influence of trade unions within establishments is often limited in Germany, there is a well-established system of employee representation at the level of the establishment, involving extensive information, consultation and co-determination rights. The Works Constitution Act makes works councils mandatory in all firms with at least five full-time employees. They are elected by the entire workforce. Since elections do not have to take place, unless employees request them, works council are not comprehensive. In the year 2000, works councils existed in one out of six establishments and covered about 53 % of all German employees (Addison et al. 2004). Works councils are legally independent from trade unions and there is a fairly strict division of competences. Nevertheless, they are often closely related to trade unions since a large but declining majority of works councillors belong to trade unions. This suggests that the presence of works councils within an establishment can influence the decision of employees to become or be a member of a trade union. The conjecture is supported by the evidence on the development of union density and works council coverage over time, as the share of employees who are represented by works councils has also fallen.1

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