Central working group

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The Central Working Group of Industrial and Commercial Employers and Employees (in short: Central Working Group or ZAG ) was an institution that existed from 1918 to 1924, in which trade unions and employers regulated economic and socio-political issues after the German November Revolution .

As an alliance between industry and trade unions, the ZAG was brought into being through the agreement signed by all the important employers and trade union associations on November 15, 1918 (also named Stinnes-Legien Agreement after the top representatives on both sides ). The looming defeat in the war and the concern about the conversion to a peace economy had brought both sides together for joint talks before the revolution; but only shortly after the outbreak of the November 9th revolution was the agreement signed. The official date of ratification is November 15, 1918.

The joint contract puts the relationship between employers and employees on a completely new basis compared to the pre-war period. In 12 points u. a. the unions as "appointed representatives of the workers" (Pt.1) and the restriction of freedom of association declared inadmissible (Pt. 2), the definition of working conditions through collective agreements (Pt. 6) and the establishment of workers' committees in every company with at least 50 Employees (Pt. 7) and the limitation of the working day to eight hours (Pt. 9).

A pressing issue when the central working group was founded was the demobilization of German soldiers who were to be reintegrated into civil society. They were granted a right to their old job (Pt. 4).

The statutes, drawn up by the union leader Carl Legien and the industrialist Hans von Raumer , provided for various organs (including the central committee, the central executive board), all of which were to be made up of equal numbers of employer and employee representatives. Under the ZAG, 14 Reich working groups were set up for the individual branches of industry and commerce. B. the Reichskohlenrat for coal mining.

The policy of the working group was viewed by the USPD and the Spartakusgruppe (later KPD ) as a betrayal of the November Revolution and fought heavily. The critics saw the working group as a stabilization of capitalism. In fact, the working group secured the ownership rights of the entrepreneurs, who were confronted by the revolution with far-reaching demands for the socialization of industry.

The short life of the ZAG was characterized by internal conflicts and hostility from oppositional currents within the two camps. It came to an end as a result of the disputes over the abolition of the eight-hour day, which had been questioned by employers in heavy industry in the early 1920s. The employers considered “an extension of working hours despite higher unemployment for reasons of cost reduction and German competitiveness” to be inevitable. They supported their argument with the need to increase productivity in order to meet reparation demands and to stabilize the German economy. Finally, the employers used the situation created by the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923/24 (see Ruhrkampf ) "to implement stabilization based on the abolition of the eight-hour day and wage increases". The General German Trade Union Confederation resigned from the ZAG on January 16, 1924 in protest .

Individual Reich working groups, e.g. B. those for the chemical industry, remained until the end of the Weimar Republic.

The ZAG set lasting standards in German social and collective bargaining policy and had a decisive influence on the economic order of the Weimar Republic , which continued to have an impact in the Federal Republic of Germany . For the first time, the ZAG recognized the unions as official negotiating partners and collective bargaining partners by the entire employers.

literature

  • Heinrich Kaun: The history of the central working group of industrial and commercial employers and employees in Germany . Neuenhahn, Jena 1938.
  • Gerald D. Feldman / Irmgard Steinisch: Industry and trade unions 1918-1924. The overburdened central working group . Series of the quarterly books for contemporary history . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1985. ISBN 3-421-06258-7 .
  • Andrea Rehling: Conflict strategy and search for consensus in times of crisis. From the Central Working Group to Concerted Action . Nomos, Baden-Baden 2011. ISBN 978-3-8329-6300-2 .

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Gerald D. Feldman / Irmgard Steinisch: Industry and trade unions 1918-1924. The overburdened central working group . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1985, p. 100.
  2. ↑ Gerald D. Feldman / Irmgard Steinisch: Industry and trade unions 1918-1924. The overburdened central working group . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1985, p. 128.