Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Germany (Ratification: 1956)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report.

The Committee’s previous comments concerned the collective bargaining rights of teachers who are part of the civil service in Germany. The Committee had invited the Government to pursue initiatives and to adopt the necessary measures to ensure that teachers are not excluded from the right to collective bargaining since they are not engaged in the administration of the State and should therefore enjoy the guarantees provided for under Article 4 of the Convention.

The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the conditions of employment of civil servants, including teachers, are laid down in national laws. Although there are no formal negotiations with the unions, the Civil Servants’ Act (Bundesbeamtengesetz) provides for the involvement of public servants’ unions in procedures which constitute more than a hearing but less than formal employer-employee co-management. Last year saw innovative developments in the process of collaboration with the unions, aiming at the development of draft legislation on the comprehensive modernization of the law governing civil servants. As this law will entail considerable changes in their conditions of employment, it was decided that civil servants should be involved in discussions at an early stage in order to win their broad support. Against this backdrop, even the basic issues paper on which the new legislation will be based was drawn up in collaboration with the leaders of the main unions. Thus, it has been possible to set up a conceptual framework creating conditions for a more performance-related approach in the public service. In drawing up the draft legislation, constructive dialogue with the unions has continued in order to harmonize the expectations and ideas of the parties, given that the proposed reform will affect about 1.7 million civil servants at the federal, Länder and local levels. Among numerous changes, the old salary system is being replaced with a system in which pay will depend primarily on individual performance and the nature of the work actually carried out. Other changes concern measures to make the law governing civil service careers more flexible by opening up career criteria and simplifying and revoking many regulations.

The Government concludes by stating that this collaboration with the unions went far beyond any previous form of participation and has proven to be effective.

The Committee takes note of this positive information, in particular the fact that consultations and dialogue with public servants’ trade unions have been an important element in the context of the preparation of draft legislation concerning the conditions of employment of public servants. The Committee recalls that the Convention refers to “negotiation between employers or employers’ organizations and workers’ organizations, with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements”. The Committee recalls that negotiations need not necessarily lead to legally binding instruments so long as account is taken in good faith of the results of the negotiations in question. The Committee expresses the hope that the positive experience acquired through close consultation and dialogue with the public servants’ trade unions will provide further opportunities to ensure that teachers can engage in formal negotiations and fully exercise the right to collective bargaining and requests the Government to keep it informed of developments in this respect.