Among enterprises with a firm-level agreement, this number rises to 80 per cent. Companies bound by a sector-level agreement are critical of pay levels – especially for low-skilled jobs – the privileges for older employees and the working-time arrangements. For companies which do not subscribe to the collective bargaining process, pay levels and working-time arrangements are their main reasons for opting out. However, many such firms none the less base their working conditions on individual provisions of the relevant sector-level agreement. If collective bargaining is to be strengthened, the bargaining parties must tackle the critical provisions of sector-level agreements and emphasise their flexibility. The statutory extension of collective agreements to cover non-signatory companies, on the other hand, would make their adoption mandatory without addressing the real problems they present.
Results of a Company Survey Attitudes Towards Binding Collective Bargaining in the Metal and Electrical Industry
A survey of 1,553 companies in the metal and electrical industry about their attitude to binding collective bargaining shows that two thirds of these firms are satisfied with their binding sector-level agreements.
- Hagen Lesch / Helena Schneider / Sandra Vogel ·
- IW-Trends No. 1 ·
- 20 March 2019
