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Low wage work in Germany: A challenge for industrial relations! (WORK IN PROGRESS)

In Germany the system of industrial relations is based on two pillars: Works councils have influence on working conditions at the workplace via the legal right of codetermination. At industry level unions and employers’ associations negotiate on basic working conditions like pay, working time, dismissal protection, and in some sectors collective agreements are declared generally binding. Thus, in international comparison the German system of industrial relations is deeply rooted in the national employment system. Quantitative and qualitative research in different service industries shows that recently the institutional embeddedness of industrial relations in Germany is not sufficient to guarantee a high standard of basic working conditions in the every day working life especially of workers in low wage jobs: The example of the hotel sector shows that under fierce price competition the enforcement of existing collective agreements is rather low and hence, one source of bad working conditions. In retailing employers' associations allow members to opt for a so-called OT membership i.e. a membership without the obligation to accept the terms and conditions collectively agreed by the employers' association and unions. Retailing is also an example for the fact that labour market regulation by the state like the regulation of marginal part time (Minijobs) have such a huge impact on the sectoral employment structure that the system of industrial relations not legally but de facto gets into a weak position. All those developments affect employment relationships of women in particular since service work is highly feminised.