The Rise of Experimentalism in German Collective Bargaining

Martin Behrens and Wade Jacoby

British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2004, vol. 42, issue 1, 95-123

Abstract: This paper addresses the debate on union strategies by analysing industrial relations change in three of Germany's most internationalized sectors: chemicals, metalworking and construction. It characterizes two logics of change in German industrial relations: a battlefield logic and an experimentalist logic. It demonstrates historical trends towards centralization of wage bargaining in each sector before looking at recent pressures for decentralization and flexibility. In chemi‐cals, the social partners control decentralization. In metalworking increasing flexibility is characterized by a mismatch between the national‐level union and the district‐level employers. Finally, the construction union seeks to replace the centralized bargaining system with a state minimum wage.

Date: 2004
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:42:y:2004:i:1:p:95-123

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