Germany: adoption of draft law on ‘single union’ goes against the interest of small unions

Four years after it was initially put forward, the much contested and debated draft law on ‘one company one union’ (Tarifeinheitgesetz) was finally adopted by the Council of Ministers on December 11. The idea behind the law is both to limit union competition within companies and also to prevent smaller corporatist unions from having blocking power over a company or even a sector of activity, as was recently the case with the rail and aviation sectors. The law prevents two unions from each negotiating separate collective agreements for the same profession in the same company. Should litigation arise, advantage is given to the agreement that covers more company members. The law also de facto restricts smaller organizations’ right to strike, a fact that runs contrary to the Constitution. The German Civil Service Federation (DBB) has already lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Federal Tribunal. Lena Rudkowski, Professor in labor law responds to questions from Planet Labor on the new law, which according to her will be tough to implement and will keep the tribunals with plenty to do.