The Phenomenon of Global Framework Agreements

The German car manufacturer Volkswagen employs some 600,000 workers in 119 production plants spread across 31 countries. The globalization of production takes place in very different regulatory environments, posing a major challenge for the development of a single global corporate culture and industrial relations policy. In an attempt to harmonize industrial relations in the company, in 2009, Volkswagen signed an amendment to an existing GFA with IndustriALL—a global union federation—called “Charter on Labor Relations within the Volkswagen Group.” In it, Volkswagen promised to grant participation rights to all employees worldwide. In 2014, despite the agreement, an initiative to set up a works council at a Volkswagen production plant in Chattanooga/Tennessee was fiercely opposed by local management and politicians while being supported by the German central management (Fornasier 2015). This recent dispute received considerable media coverage, illustrating how much attitudes towards social dialogue and labor standards can differ within a single company.