Works Council Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Works Council Act |
| Abbreviation: | BRG (not official) |
| Type: | Imperial Law |
| Scope: | German Empire |
| Legal matter: | Works constitution law |
| Issued on: | February 4, 1920 ( RGBl. P. 147) |
| Entry into force on: | |
| Expiry: | January 20, 1934 (Section 65 No. 1 G v January 20, 1934) |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The Works Council Act , which was in force in Germany from 1920 to 1934, created the obligation to have works councils elected for companies with more than twenty employees .
history
Strikes in the Ruhr and in Central Germany in the spring of 1919 motivated the government to submit a draft works council law. Company interest groups and the free white-collar union refused to support him because the employees lacked economic co-determination rights. A revised second draft attempted to resolve the conflict by placing two workers' representatives on the supervisory bodies of large corporations. The employers are now opposed to this plan, because an inspection of the supervisory board allegedly equates to an inspection of trade secrets. In the passed law, the compromise was reached that although two employee representatives were to be sent to the supervisory body, their rights of participation were limited to social issues.
The USPD and KPD mobilized a demonstrating crowd in front of the Reichstag building on January 13, 1920 against the planned passage of the Works Council Act , around 100,000 participants came. Prussian security police opened fire on the demonstrators. 42 people died and 105 were injured in this bloodbath in front of the Reichstag . Reich President Friedrich Ebert then declared a state of emergency . The law passed Parliament on January 18, 1920.
The Works Council Act was repealed on January 20, 1934 by the law on the organization of national work (RGBl. I p. 45).
In the time of National Socialism, there was no room for employee representatives to participate due to the leadership principle that also applies in companies . Soon after the end of the war in 1945 and the re-admission of the trade unions, they pushed for a new regulation of the works constitution law. The Law Regulating National Labor was also formally repealed by Article I of Law No. 56 of the Allied Control Council of June 30, 1947.
See also
literature
- Klaus-Dieter Feldmann: The corporate decision-making process in Germany and France. Socio-economic interest formation processes in the company co-determination in Germany and France from 1815 to its current form. Economic u. Social sciences Dissertation Aachen 1982.
- Ludwig Preller: Social policy in the Weimar Republic , unchanged reprint of the work Kronberg / Düsseldorf (Athenaeum / Droste), first published in 1949, 1978, ISBN 3761072104 , pp. 249-261.
- Axel Weipert: At the gates of power. The demonstration in front of the Reichstag on January 13, 1920. In: Year Book for Research on the History of the Labor Movement , Volume 11, Issue 2, Verlag NDZ, Berlin 2012, ISSN 1610-093X , pp. 16–32.
Web links
- Facsimile of the Reich Law Gazette, year 1920, No. 26, (No. 7287) Works Council Act, pp. 147–174, Works Council Act, February 4, 1920. In: 1000dokumente.de .
- Transliteration Reichs-Gesetzblatt, year 1920, No. 26: Works Council Act. From February 4, 1920. In: www.zaar.uni-muenchen.de (PDF)
Individual evidence
- ↑ On the demonstration see the study by Axel Weipert: Before the gates of power. The demonstration in front of the Reichstag on January 13, 1920. In: Yearbook for research on the history of the labor movement , 11th year, issue 2, Berlin 2012, pp. 16–32.
- ^ Deutsches Historisches Museum: 1920 , queried on February 10, 2010
- ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine from January 13, 2010, section Das Datum
- ↑ Collection of Laws 7. – 10. Addendum - September 1947, Control Council, Law No. 56, C 56/1