In Germany, co-determination by employees committees ("Betriebsrat") in the running of companies has been established in industrial law for over 90 years.
These committees are directly elected by the employees every 4 years. Employees representatives are also directly elected to serve on the Supervisory Boards ("Aufsichtsrat") of companies, at the top level of management.
For the last 10 years I have chaired the 11-man employees committee at Ed. Züblin AGs Central Technical Division in Stuttgart. This committee represents the approx. 500 technical staff based in Stuttgart and branch offices all over Germany.Each of Züblin's 12 divisions sends 2 representatives to the joint employees committee, of which I am deputy chairman.
Within the structures laid down by collective agreements ("Tarifverträge"), which in Germany apply to all construction companies, employees committes have wide ranging functions regarding employee welfare, health and safety. Their rights and responsibilities are anchored in the Industrial Relations Law ("Betriebsverfassungsgesetz").
Since the amalgamation of Züblin into the Strabag Group of companies (approx. 70,000 employees worldwide) in 2006, the joint employees committee has negotiated a whole range of agreements ("Betriebsvereinbarungen") regarding e.g. information and communication technology, flexible working hours, protective clothing etc.
My current "project" is, as chairman of the electoral committee, to manage the election in May 2010 of the 6 employees representatives on Züblin's supervisory board.This entails distributing the necessary information to our approx. 6,000 employees, co-ordinating the list of candidates, and ensuring that everyone receives ballot papers etc. within the established timescale. The elections end on May 10th, after which I hope to have more time for technical projects again.
Michael Paul, EngTech TMICE