Germany´s Changing Industrial Relations: A Comparison with Other OECD Countries

In the 2000s, an average of five days per 1,000 employees were lost per year, in the 2010s it was seven days, and between 2020 and 2024 ten. In contrast, in the majority of the 25 OECD countries surveyed industrial action is declining. In some countries, there were fewer walkouts, in others the strikers were less numerous or the stop pages shorter. Despite these developments, industrial relations in Germany continue to be among the most stable in the OECD. Since 2020, Finland, Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom have all seen a noticeable increase in lost working days, though whether this indicates a general trend reversal remains to be seen. Conflicts over wealth distribution have intensified as a result of higher inflation, but this effect is likely to decrease as the pressure on prices weakens. However, it is not inconceivable that further disputes will arise as a result of the current transformation processes.