Keen to protect rules on co-determination in Germany, trade unions in the country have produced a qualitative study – carried out through the Hans-Böckler trade union foundation – that analyses the nature and form of conflicts between company management and works councils, on the basis of 28 case studies carried out at companies of a wide variety of sizes. Speaking to Planet Labor, sociologist Markus Hertwig, who led the study, discusses these conflicts and things that can be done to improve the situation. What struck him most of all was the rising aggression and intolerance towards the structures of co-determination.
Conflicts between works councils and management on co-determination occur everywhere. The Hans Böckler Foundation (HBS) presented the qualitative study entitled ‘battle for co-determination’ on 23 October. It was conducted by the sociologists Markus Hertwig, chair of labour sociology at the Chemnitz University of Technology, and his colleague Oliver Thünken, with the support of Sissy Morgenroth and Alrun Fischer from the consultancy firm AfB, which specialises in advising works councils. “We pu
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