Die Gewerkschaften tun was in ihrer Macht steht. Und haben schon viel getan.
Vom: 24.02.2004 | Stefan Collm
Trade Unions do what they can - and that is quite a lot.
Over the last one hundred years, trade unions have successfully fought in the name of social progress. The eight-hour day and e universal suffrage are commendable examples, as is the basic foundation of our present social system. By struggling for the right to free collective bargaining, unions have ensured that the state must share responsibility for economic policy. The right to strike is another historic accomplishment. It gave the trade unions the strength they needed for the gradual improvement of the situation of workers and employees through negotiations.
Trade unions are old-fashioned: they still fight for justice.
Approximately 200,000 works' councilors represent the employee interests. Works councils are concerned with improving working conditions and overseeing the adherence to collective agreements and labor laws. Legal assistance before industrial and social welfare courts comes with union membership in every trade union of the DGB (German Trade Union Federation ). This legal protection is provided by the DGB and is free of charge.
To the point: Who gets you a pay raise or shorter working hours?
The trade unions do.
Trade unions negotiate with employers nationally and regionally for better wages and salaries, for shorter working hours and better vacation benefits, for codetermination and opportunities for further qualification, for improved health and safety standards and for protection from arbitrary dismissal. Trade union representatives from the shop floor are members of the union bargaining committees and play a decisive role in wage negotiations and their results. To this day trade unions have concluded more than 40,000 agreements. If you are a trade union member, you have a right to claim those negotiated benefits.
As an individual you stand alone.
As a union member, you have 6 million colleagues backing you.
Its the members who make trade unions strong. And only strong trade unions can fight successfully in the interests of their members. That is why some 6,3 million people of different beliefs and confessions, men and women, Germans and foreigners, have joined together in the twelve trade unions of the DGB. 6,3 million blue and white collar workers and civil servants, trainees and students, pensioners and unemployed, whose strength is in unity. Today’s newcomers to the union ranks will join a successful representative for their interests. And remember, the membership fee averages only 1% of the monthly wage or salary.
We can not abolish unemployment.
But we can share employment among as many people as possible.
The introduction of the 35-hour working week is a union achievement. Many jobs have been secured and new ones have been created. People need more sovereignty over their lives. Shorter working hours means more time available off the job. The DGB is opposed to making working hours more flexible in order to force people to adapt their lives and their bio-rhythms to the running time of machines. Shift and night work have to be reduced. Sunday is a holiday and must not be sacrificed.
Trade Unions are working to raise wages in eastern Germany
to the level of those in the western part of the country.
The trade unions have made a fundamental contribution to helping the two parts of Germany grow together. The keyword is wage parity. In many industries in eastern Germany agreements have been signed for step-by-step wage increases to levels paid in the West. The unions have worked hard to realize this bit of wage justice. Working hours, holiday pay and other social benefits will soon be the same in East and West. And too, every increase in wages in the West will automatically mean more pay in the East as well. This is what unions mean by justice.
The Trade Unions. Ready to join? Or recruit a new member?
