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Employment relations without collective bargaining and strikes: the unusual case of civil servants in Germany

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  • Berndt Keller

Abstract

The article deals with the widely neglected employment relations in the public sector of Germany with a special focus on civil servants. It is subdivided into two main parts. A shorter part elaborates on public employees and collective bargaining, a longer one on civil servants and their diverging forms of employment relations without the right to collective bargaining and strike. In order to better understand major changes that have taken place since the mid2000s, we chose a long‐term perspective and examine traditional as well as present forms of interest representation. Limited degrees of decentralisation and their lasting diverging consequences are analysed in great detail.

Suggested Citation

  • Berndt Keller, 2020. "Employment relations without collective bargaining and strikes: the unusual case of civil servants in Germany," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1-2), pages 110-133, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:51:y:2020:i:1-2:p:110-133
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12284
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Berndt Keller & Hartmut Seifert, 2015. "Atypical Forms of Employment in the Public Sector - Are There Any?," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 774, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Berndt Keller, 2005. "Union Formation through Merger: The Case of Ver.di in Germany," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 209-232, June.
    3. Damian Grimshaw & Mat Johnson & Stefania Marino & Jill Rubery, 2017. "Towards more disorganised decentralisation? Collective bargaining in the public sector under pay restraint," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 22-41, January.
    4. Hoppe, Markus, 2017. "Kommunale Arbeitgeberverbände und die Privatisierung öffentlicher Dienste: Auswirkungen auf Verbandsstruktur und -politik [Municipal Employers’ Associations and the Privatisation of Public Services: Impact on Associational Structure and Policy]," Industrielle Beziehungen. Zeitschrift für Arbeit, Organisation und Management, Verlag Barbara Budrich, vol. 24(4), pages 431-449.
    5. Di Carlo, Donato, 2018. "Does pattern bargaining explain wage restraint in the German public sector?," MPIfG Discussion Paper 18/3, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    6. Ellguth, Peter & Kohaut, Susanne, 2018. "Tarifbindung und betriebliche Interessenvertretung: Aktuelle Ergebnisse aus dem IAB-Betriebspanel 2017," WSI-Mitteilungen, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 71(4), pages 299-306.
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    1. Bonaccolto-Töpfer, Marina & Castagnetti, Carolina & Prümer, Stephanie, 2022. "Understanding the public-private sector wage gap in Germany: New evidence from a Fixed Effects quantile Approach∗," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    2. Radu Stefan Patru, 2021. "Reflections on actual situation of collective bargaining for the public servants and public services in Romania and in Europe. A theoretical and practical approach," Juridical Tribune - Review of Comparative and International Law, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, vol. 11(2), pages 251-261, June.
    3. Berndt Keller, 2024. "Public sector employment relations: Germany in comparative perspective," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 30(1), pages 77-96, March.
    4. Werner Schmidt & Andrea Müller, 2024. "Differing industrial relations: The public and the private sector in Germany," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 285-302, July.

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