Gesetzliche Einhegung der Tarifpluralität? – Zur Debatte um eine staatlich verordnete Tarifeinheit

Abstract

Claus Schnabel discusses the reasoning and the consequences of the recent parliamentary draft bill, which intends to restore the traditional principle of one collective bargaining agreement per business in Germany that has been overturned by the Federal Labour Court. The author argues that the empirical evidence on the effects of allowing multiple bargaining agreements and of the recently emerged occupational unions on strikes, wages and transaction costs is weak and does not justify the encroachment on the freedom of association associated with this bill.

Ronald Bachmann and Christoph M. Schmidt argue that since 2010, when the Federal Labour Court eased restrictions on multi-unionism, hardly any signs of adverse effects of this court ruling can be observed. Furthermore, the draft bill would have strong negative consequences for small, mainly occupation-based, unions in Germany. Therefore, the bill does not seem to be a good instrument for regulating labour relations in Germany.

Martin Henssler welcomes the plans of the German Government to clarify the legal questions arising from a collision of collective labour agreements caused by a revised jurisdiction. Companies need clear guidelines on how to handle the demands of several trade unions. Reciprocally, the trade unions, too, need legal security shown, for example, by the high compensation claims against the Air Traffic Controllers’ Union (GDF) jeopardizing its existence. The legislator should no longer allow the collective labour system in the field of essential services to suffer from a growing discontent of the affected citizens being the main sufferers from the strikes.