Interessenvertretungen in der Digitalisierung. Zur Bedeutung betriebspolitischer Aktivierungsprojekte der Gewerkschaften am Beispiel von „Arbeit 2020 in NRW“

The article analyses the patterns of action works councils develop in dealing with digitalisation processes and the role trade union activation projects can play in this process, which is aimed at improving the competences of works councils in the scope of their ability to act. This is illustrated by the example of the trade union project “Arbeit 2020 in NRW” (“Work 2020 in North Rhine-Westphalia”), which can be regarded as one of the core projects of a trade union to activate works councils on the issue of digitalisation. The project’s focus on activating design-oriented and strategically-oriented works council strategies stands clearly in contrast to other research findings, according to which works council representation policy is reactive and is geared towards protective interests. In this article, the authors examine the possibilities and limits of improving the capacity to act of works councils based on trade union activation projects and what this implies for the dissemination of new practices of interest representation and for the interaction between trade unions and works councils.