(Neu)Bewertung und Eingruppierung von Facharbeit in der chemischen Industrie und in der Metall- und Elektroindustrie Baden-Württembergs

Skilled work, based on a dual system of vocational education, is seen as a cornerstone of the German production model. In the framework of the reform projects on pay in the chemicals and metal industries, this reference point has shifted. Skilled work has been revalued and through the introduction of a standard pay system for employees the existing developmental blockades have been removed. This paper examines the question of how skilled work was defined before and after the pay reforms, how the classification of skilled work has developed and who the winners and losers of the reform projects are. It is argued that the upgrading of skilled labour in both the blue and white collar segments has been achieved, previous developmental blockades have been removed and a higher level of fair pay introduced. This happened at the (relative) cost of downgrading other occupational groups, causing long-term problematic income distribution and, if not stopped, a deceleration of the dynamics of the higher groupings.