The German government plans to introduce a minimum wage from 2015. This must be understood as a response to the decline in collective bargaining coverage and the marked increase in employment in the low-wage sector. The authors discuss how many workers are affected by this new regulation and...

This book presents an evidence-based assessment of the impact of EU enlargement on industrial relations and social standards in old and new EU Member States. It combines chapters which give an overview of the process of enlargement/integration and comparative socio-economic data at EU and...

Als Antwort auf die Krise in Europa hat sich innerhalb der EU ein neues System der Economic Governance herausgebildet. Im Rahmen einer intensivierten wirtschaftspolitischen Koordinierung ist dabei die Lohnpolitik immer mehr ins Zentrum gerückt und hat neue Formen einer direkten politischen...

Since the 1970s, the spread of neo-liberalism across the world has radically reconfigured the relationship between unions, employers and the state. The contributors highlight that this is the major cause and effect of union decline and if there is to be any union revitalisation and return to...

This study focuses on describing and analyzing the concrete initiatives taken by trade unions and employers to combat precarious employment. It is based on an evaluation of recent data, research literature and policy documents as well as a number of interviews with experts from all four sectors....

During the last decades, German industrial relations have undergone significant changes leading to a partial erosion and fragmentation of collective bargaining as well - and more fundamentally - to a significant change in power relations and the weakening of trade unions. As a result, wage...

Die gemeinsame Stellungnahme von WSI und IMK beantwortet ausgewählte Fragen zu den bisherigen Auswirkungen des Mindestlohns und seiner zukünftigen Anpassung. Die Fragen und Antworten, die in diesem Policy Brief präsentiert werden, erfolgten im Rahmen einer schriftlichen Anhörung der...

Das Instrument der Allgemeinverbindlicherklärung von Tarifverträgen spielt in Deutschland anders als in anderen europäischen Ländern nur eine sehr begrenzte Rolle. In den vergangenen beiden Jahrzehnten ist insbesondere die Zahl der allgemeinverbindlichen Lohntarifverträge stark...