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Still a Coordinated Model? Market Liberalization and the Transformation of Employment Relations in the German Telecommunications Industry

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  • Virginia Doellgast

Abstract

This paper examines recent changes in collective bargaining and employer strategies in the German telecommunications industry following market liberalization in the late 1990s. Germany's distinctive co-determination and vocational training institutions encouraged large firms to adopt employment systems in technician and call center workplaces that relied on high levels of worker skill and discretion. However, organizational restructuring is undermining these gains, as firms use outsourcing and the creation of subsidiaries to escape or weaken company-level collective agreements. These trends have substantially weakened unions and contributed to the further disorganization of coordinated bargaining structures. Findings are based on interviews with union and works council representatives, managers, and employees at Deutsche Telekom and its major competitors conducted between 2003 and 2007, as well as secondary analysis of company documents and industry reports.

Suggested Citation

  • Virginia Doellgast, 2009. "Still a Coordinated Model? Market Liberalization and the Transformation of Employment Relations in the German Telecommunications Industry," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(1), pages 3-23, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:63:y:2009:i:1:p:3-23
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390906300101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mari Sako & Gregory Jackson, 2006. "Strategy Meets Institutions: The Transformation of Management-Labor Relations at Deutsche Telekom and Ntt," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 59(3), pages 347-366, April.
    2. Virginia Doellgast & Ian Greer, 2007. "Vertical Disintegration and the Disorganization of German Industrial Relations1," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 55-76, March.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ian Greer & Thorsten Schulten & Nils Böhlke, 2013. "How Does Market Making Affect Industrial Relations? Evidence from Eight German Hospitals," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(2), pages 215-239, June.
    3. Chiara Benassi & Lisa Dorigatti, 2015. "Straight to the Core — Explaining Union Responses to the Casualization of Work: The IG Metall Campaign for Agency Workers," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 533-555, September.

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