Arbeitgeberhaltungen zur Allgemeinverbindlichkeit von Tarifverträgen in Deutschland und den Niederlanden

The statutory extension of multi-employer collective agreements to non-organised firms is used in many European countries to shore up bargaining coverage. From the perspective of employers bound to collective agreements, statu­tory extension has both advantages and disadvantages. This article investigates the attitudes towards statutory extensions of employers’ associations in Germany and in the Netherlands. It is shown that Dutch employers’ associations view statutory extensions much more positively than the German ones. These differences in employer attitudes explain the wider use of extensions in the Netherlands. The differences in employer attitudes in turn are the result of different historical experiences and different assessments of the effects of wage competition by non-covered firms. In Germany, moreover, conflicts among employers have resulted in a decline in the use of extensions, while in the Netherlands a consensus among employers across all industries facilitates the statutory extension of collective agreements.