In Berlin on 18 November and presenting the OECD’s latest report on collective bargaining entitles: Negotiating Our Way Up: Collective Bargaining in a Changing World of Work, Stefano Scarpetta, OECD Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs emphasized the positive impact of collective bargaining on employment and working conditions, and launched an unambiguous message. With the world of work in flux and influenced by digitalization, automation and demographic change, social partners can and should play a major role. Indeed these changes could even breathe a new lease of life into both employers’ organizations and trade unions that have been losing momentum since the 80s. Alongside the OECD Director stood Björn Böhning, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, who announced that his Ministry would soon be taking a series of measures aimed at strengthening the country’s collective agreement system and social partnership.
Positive employment effects. The 257-page OECD report provides an exhaustive summary of collective bargaining in the different OECD member states and the role being played by the key collective bargaining actors. In 2018 only 16% of employees were members of a trade union, while in 1975 this number was 33%. The numbers for Germany are almost the same with 2018 unionization rates at 16.5% down from 34.6% in 1975. Similarly, the number of employees covered by a collective agreement within OECD co
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