Researchers at the Hans Böckler Foundation have provided evidence to a parliamentary committee on employment and social affairs to show the importance of the general applicability of collective agreements to stabilising the coverage of collective bargaining. Currently around 60% of workers in Germany are covered by collective agreements, down from 75% at the end of the 1990s. In contrast, the coverage rate in other western European countries is higher where collective agreements are applied across the sector, even where employers are not direct signatories to the agreement.
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Study supports positive role of general applicability of collective agreements
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