Employers' association
An employers' association is an association of employers ( entrepreneurs ) for the purpose of jointly representing interests vis-à-vis trade unions and the state. An employers' association is the collective bargaining, social, labor market and sociopolitical mouthpiece of its members. Employers' associations are often organized according to branch or branch groups. As a rule, they come together to form national, and since the European Union was founded, also form European umbrella organizations .
The main area of activity of employers' associations is collective bargaining and they support their members through information services and legal assistance in the field of social, collective bargaining and labor market policy issues. Of course, employers' associations conduct extensive lobbying and public relations work for their members through coordination with state representatives, participation in the legal drafting and implementation of the framework conditions for business development. From an international point of view, the activities of the employers' associations often concern the pushing back of consumer protection and employee rights and the possibility for large entrepreneurs to shift their tax liability abroad. Under the catchphrase "hostility to the economy", employers' associations try to fight taxes (e.g. financial transaction tax) or legal frameworks (e.g. documenting legal forms) through strategic action by their networks.
Employers' associations in Germany
The federal association of German employers' associations (BDA) is the nationwide and cross-sector umbrella organization for employers . Its largest member is the employers 'association Gesamtmetall , in which the employers' associations of the metal and electrical industry are united. In addition, the Federal Chemical Employers' Association (BAVC) is a large and influential member association.
Regionally organized employers' associations deal particularly with the interests of the regional economy. So represents z. B. the AGA company association medium-sized companies from the areas of wholesale and foreign trade as well as company- related services that are located in northern Germany. Topics of the association's regional lobbying work include a. the preservation of the Hamburg free port or the training situation in northern Germany. The association also ensures that managing directors and North German politicians come together to exchange views. The member companies are represented in labor law issues in northern German courts.
Two basic forms of membership in employers' associations have evolved:
a) The classic tariff binding membership: The tariff association acting on behalf of its member companies, the wage agreement and the members are bound by this agreement.
b) OT membership : The member companies have all the advantages and services of a traditional employers' association, but are not bound by a collective wage agreement ("OT" stands for "without collective bargaining").
The Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) approved this practice in a decision of December 1, 2010 (1 BvR 2593/09) and established some rules.
Employers' associations in Austria
See: Federation of Austrian Industries and Chamber of Commerce .
Employers' associations in Switzerland
The employers 'associations of the Confederation are organized in the Swiss Employers' Association.
International
Europe
At the European level there is the umbrella organization of European employers' associations BUSINESSEUROPE .
France
The best-known employers' associations in France are the Union nationale des professions libérales (UNAPL), the Mouvement des entreprises de France (MEDEF), the Confédération Générale des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (CGPME) and the Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles (FNSEA) .
United Kingdom
According to its own information, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) represents around 1,500 individual members and 140 industry associations in which 188,500 companies are organized. The Farmers 'Union of England and Wales, the National Farmers' Union (NFU), is the largest branch organization represented in the CBI with 55,000 member farms.
History (Germany)
The liberal attitudes of the 19th century saw in employers' associations the danger of cartels . This was all the more true for collective wage agreements. After trade unions had increasingly formed since the mid-19th century and the first collective agreements had been concluded, the view slowly changed. In August 1869 the German Printing Association was founded. The General Association of German Metal Industry was founded in 1890 . In 1904 two umbrella organizations were founded, the headquarters of the German employers 'associations (founded in 1904 to represent employers in heavy industry) and the Association of German Employers' Associations (founded in 1904 to represent employers in the manufacturing industry). In 1913 these merged to form the Association of German Employers' Associations.
In 1920 companies with 8 million employees were organized in employers' associations. With the seizure of power by the National Socialists, the employers' associations were dissolved and the DAF into line . After the Second World War , the employers' associations remained banned in the Soviet Zone and GDR . In the western sectors, the traditions of the period before 1933 were continued. In 1947 the Association of Employers of the Western Zone was formed, which in 1948 became the Central Secretariat of Employers of the United Economic Area . In November 1950, the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) was established. In 1987 the degree of organization was an estimated 80%.
See also
Web links
literature
Standard work
- Wolfgang Schroeder / Bernhard Weßels (ed.): Handbook of employers and business associations in Germany. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2010.
Further literature
- Martin Behrens : The paradox of employers' associations. edition sigma, Berlin 2011, ISBN 3-8360-8730-8 .
- Gerhard Erdmann: The German employers' associations in the socio-historical change of the times , Luchterhand, Neuwied / Berlin 1966.
- Gerhard Kessler: The German employers' associations . Dunckler & Humblot, Leipzig 1907.
- Roswitha Leckebusch: Origin and change of the objectives, the structure and the effects of employers' associations , Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966.
- Paul R. Melot de Beauregard: Membership in employers' associations and collective bargaining coverage . Diss. 2001, ISBN 3-631-39295-8
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://lobbypedia.de/wiki/Bundesvereinigung_der_Deutschen_Arbeitgeberverb%C3%A4nde , accessed on April 10, 2016.
- ↑ bundesverfassungsgericht.de , BVerfG approves BAG case law on OT membership in the employers' association .
- ^ Paul R. Melot de Beauregard: Membership in employers' associations and collective bargaining coverage, pages 18-19.