Europäisierung der industriellen Beziehungen

US Multi-Nationals and the German Industrial Relations System

“…The German system is commonly described as a dual model (Jacobi et al 1992;Müller-Jentsch 1997), functionally differentiated between sectoral collective bargaining and workplace co-determination. In the first arena, employers' associations and unions bargain mainly over issues such as wages and working time; in the second, elected works councils (established on workers' request) represent employees' interests irrespective of union membership.…”

“…In recent years, they have in many sectors taken on bargaining roles for locally-negotiated deviations from the sectoral contract, or 'opening clauses'. These allow companies under certain conditions and to specified extents to modify or diverge from the agreed standards (Müller-Jentsch 1997;Bispinck/Schulten 1999 The system has always allowed employers to opt out of sectoral agreements by simply not joining employer's federations other than 'OT' ('without tariff') federations, minority federations not requiring observation of sectoral agreements. Alternatively, they may strike separate company agreements or Haustarifverträge, as have major employers such as Volkswagen.…”

“…Works councils mediate between management and workforce interests (Müller-Jentsch 1997. Some authors have asserted that they function as 'democratic' and 'representative' institutions (Schmitt 2003).…”

Industrial relations as a social system

“…This definition includes major features of a definition of industrial relations as an autopoietic social system. Müller-Jentsch emphasises that interactions between persons, groups and organisations are the object of industrial relations from which norms, contracts and institutions result (Müller-Jentsch 1986) 13 . In systems theory terms he identifies interactions as relations of communications from which the structure of the system derives.…”

Die Institutionalisierung von Arbeitsbeziehungen inmitten der Gewalt. Der paradoxe Fall der kolumbianischen Bananenarbeitergewerkschaft Sintrainagro

“…Zur Geschichte und Entwicklung der Konzeptionen und institutionellen Muster von Arbeitsbeziehungen bzw. industrial relations s Kaufman 2004;Müller-Jentsch 1997;Hyman 1989…”