Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Labor unions Germany'

The purpose of this study is to investigate long-term trends in the union membership of South Africa and Germany, and to highlight trends in unionisation in both of these countries over a period of time. The long-term aspect of this study differentiates it from more detailed specific studies concerned with the individual fortunes of confederations or unions. The changing fortunes of trade unions have been associated with changes in work organisation, the influence of institutional pressures, or long term changes in the economic cycle. All these factors may, of course, shape and be shaped by each other. From a comparative perspective this dissertation determines whether the fortunes of unions are ultimately a product of the long waves of an economic cycle, or if other factors, such as variations in union/state relations, changes in the forms of work organisation and shifts in the employment market, impact upon union membership and mobilisation. It is hoped that the comparison of a transitional and an advanced economy may shed new light on the causes of union growth and decline, and the impact of specific social, legal and cultural variables thereon. The theoretical frame of reference for this study emerged from literature pertaining to union growth and decline. This literature discusses the historical, economic and sectoral challenges that confront the identity of unions and their ability to mobilise membership within contemporary labour markets. The entire study relies heavily on primary data collected from a wide range of sources in both countries. This method facilitates the comparison and cross-checking of information, which ensures a full and balanced study. A synthesis of the facts obtained led to certain suggestions relating to the areas in which both South African and German labour organisations could adapt their agenda and interests to the changing nature of the employment market in order to avert membership decline. The methodology of this research draws from Skopol’s work which argues that social studies ought to be grounded in historical experience in order to make sense out of specific social events that occur today. The research design utilises an initial comparative historical-political analysis of the emergence of unionism in South Africa and Germany, so as to establish those factors which have, in the past, affected union growth and decline in both countries. Thereafter, the impact of contemporary economic and sectoral trends that reoccur in the South African and German labour markets are examined and compared, in order to establish their influence on the growth or decline of union membership in both countries in the future. This study consists of four sections. The first section comprises a historical dimension that uses Valenzuela’s work relating to the political nature of labour movements to establish those factors which, in the past, have affected union growth and decline. This is done to determine whether the type of insertion of labour movements into historical national political processes, and the links formed between trade unions and political parties influences membership growth or decline. The following three sections deal with the present challenges that may affect the unions in the future. Section Two deals with factors of economic recession (namely, poverty and unemployment) which confront trade unions in the 1990s. Hyman’s Theory of Disaggregation is applied to determine if recessive socio-economic factors can account for the strength of decline of unions, as opposed to union mobilisation being purely linked to transitions between long waves of the economy as Kelly suggests. The relevance of these theories to the rise and decline of unionism in South Africa and Germany is compared and contrasted. The third section determines whether changes to more flexible forms of work organisation and shifts in the employment market can account for the contrasting strength of the South African labour movement and the decline of the German labour movement today. The way in which these issues impact negatively upon union strength in South Africa and Germany in the 1990s is compared and contrasted, again using Hyman’s Theory of Disaggregation. The final section establishes whether or not the roles adopted by the South African and German labour movements during their confrontation with labour repressive regimes impacts upon their ability to attract union membership today, despite the constraints imposed upon unions by prevailing economic and structural uncertainties. Therefore the historicity of the South African and German labour movements, (based upon the findings of the first part of this study), is referred back to. At the same time, the reactions of the South African and German labour movements to prevailing economic and structural realities, (as examined in the second part of this research) are re-examined. Three conclusions are reached. Firstly, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses, all labour organisations are capable of adjusting to the adverse changes taking place in contemporary employment markets if they prove willing to advance and defend the interests of all who work, including those in the informal sector. If unions continue to neglect the informal labour market, they run the risk of being transposed by social movements that are antagonistic to trade unions or new expressions of the workforce’s latent collectivism. Secondly, in successfully playing a social movement role that led to the downfall of Apartheid in 1994, the South African labour movement has evolved as an energetic body with a dimension of recumbent militancy that attempts to adapt its identity to the changing nature of the employment market. This enables the South African labour movement to continue to attract membership despite the prevailing economic uncertainties. In contrast, forced co-operation and consensus within the German industrial relations arena since World War Two has resulted in a less dynamic union movement that lacks initiative in adapting to the changing nature of the employment market. The result is a decline in unionism. Finally, the fortunes of unions are not, as Kelly suggests, purely a product of economic cycles. Political climates can also influence mobilisation, as has occurred in both South Africa and Germany. This implies that mobilisation is not only activated by the economic dissatisfaction of a union movement.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This project attempts to assess critically the 'dualistic' role of Organised Labour within the complexities of societal transition processes. As observed by Bendix (1976/2000), the Industrial Relations System, and Organised Labour within it, is a generator for societal and political change. At present, the German union federation Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) do not only hold prominent positions in their respective collective bargaining systems, but also a considerable amount of political power. In both societies, strict labour legislation and strong social-democratic or even communist factions prevent government from adopting more liberal and flexible labour laws. In this paper, the historical and the present role of Organised Labour in its wider societal, context has been critically examined within the framework of the EQUILIBRIUM CONVERGENCE approach (Willy Bendix, 1979) and the TRADE UNION POLICY MATRIX (Willy Bendix, 1979). Both, the EQUILIBRIUM CONVERGENCE model and the TRADE UNION POLICY MATRIX have been applied to place the Deutcher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) into their own societal perspectives in order to establish their role and policy in the societal transition process of their respective countries. In this respect, great similarities between problems, developments and policy formation have been found. Also that, albeit with a historical 'time lag', COSATU appears to follow the structural developments of its German counterpart, the DGB. Perhaps the most salient observation and conclusion is that, while the adaptation of the trade union movement in Germany within this country's societal, industrial transition phases, and particularly in the period of the reunification of East and West Germany, entailing the integration of a communist-socialist system into a social market economy and parliamentary democracy, was of a relatively realistic nature and resulted in a high degree of co operation between the social partners at the highest level leading to 'post modern unionism', South Africa, in its present industrial transition phase, has still to contend with strongly ideologically driven 'fighting unions'. This might hamper an effective economic policy formulation by the government.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie werkstuk is 'n evaluasie van die 'tweeledige' rol van die arbeidsbeweging binne die kompleksiteit van 'n sosiale oorgangsproses. Soos deur Bendix (1996/2000) beweer, is die nywerheidsverhoudingsstelsel met arbeid as hoofakteur daarbinne as 'n dryfkrag, die katalisator vir sosiale en politiese verandering. Die vakbondfederasies Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB) end die Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) speel tans nie net prominente rolle in hulle individuele nywerheidsverhoudingsstrukture nie, maar het ook sterk magsbasise in hulle sosiale konteks. In albei samelewings verhinder streng progressiewe arbeidswetgewing en oorweldigende sosiaal-demokratiese, of selfs kommunistiese faksies die regering daarvan om meer liberale en buigbare arbeidswetgewing in te stel. In hierdie skrif word die geskiedkundige en huidige rolle van georganiseerde arbeid ondersoek binne die raamwerk van die EQUILIBRIUM CONVERGENCE Benadering (Willy Bendix, 1979) asook die TRADE UNION POLICY MATRIX (Willy Bendix, 1979). Albei, die EQUILIBRIUM CONVERGENCE model en die TRADE UNION POLICY MATRIX is toegepas om die Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB) en die CONGRESS OF SOUTH AFRICAN TRADE UNIONS (COSATU) in hulle samelewingskompleksiteit te plaas om hulle rolle en beleid in hulle eie lande te bepaal. In hierdie proses van ondersoek is 'n groot ooreenstemming tussen hulle ontwikkelinge en posisies gevind, en ook dat, alhoewel met 'n historiese 'time lag', COSATU die pad van strukturele ontwikkelings van sy eweknie in Duitsland, die Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB), volg. Miskien die mees belangrikste bevinding en gevolgtrekking is dat, terwyl die aanpassing van die Duitse vakbondbeweging binne die land sy industriele oorgangsfase, en besonders in die periode van die herenigingsproses van Oos en Wes Duitsland, en dus die inlywing van 'n sosialistiese sisteem in 'n sosiale markekonomie en sosiale demokrasie op 'n relatiewe, realistiese basis bewerkstellig was, wat in 'n hoe mate van samewerking tussen die sosiale venote op die hoogste vlak bewerkstellig het, wat na die stadium van 'post modern unionism' voer, Suid Afrika in sy teenwoordige industriele oorgangsfase nog steeds aan die probleem van sterk ideologies gedrewe 'fighting unions' bloot gestel is, wat 'n effektiewe proses van ekonomiese beleidsformulering mag benadeel.

Defence date: 13 December 2007
Examining Board: Prof. Wilfried Loth (Universität Duisburg-Essen) ; Prof. Bo Stråth (EUI) ; Prof. Pascaline Winand (EUI and Monash University) ; Prof. Gérard Bossuat (Université de Cergy-Pontoise)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
no abstract available

Waren die Arbeitnehmer bei den Ereignissen 1989/90 in Deutschland involviert? Die meisten Untersuchungen über die Revolution und die darauffolgende Vereinigung Deutschlands verneinen dies; die vorliegende Untersuchung behauptet aber das Gegenteil. Durch die Kontextualisierung der Dynamiken in der ost- und westdeutschen Arbeitnehmerschaft schafft sie ein neues Bild von vermeintlich bekannten Ereignissen. Die Studie untersucht die unterschiedlichen Wege auf denen die ost- und westdeutsche Arbeitnehmerschaft zu entscheidenden Akteuren 1989-1990 wurden. Zunächst stellt sie die Beteiligung der ostdeutschen Arbeitnehmer an der Revolution heraus, durch das Aufdecken von vielfältigen Überschneidungen der Entwicklungen in den Betrieben und auf der Strasse. Dynamiken innerhalb der Arbeitnehmerschaft, so zeigt die Studie, waren ein Kernbestandteil der politischen Prozesse, welche das Ende der DDR markierte. Darauffolgenden konzentriert sich die Analyse auf die Politik von vier Westdeutschen Gewerkschaften (Metall, Chemie, Medien und Öffentlicher Dienst) und ihres Dachverband (DGB) und deckt die Einrichtung eines Krisenmanagement der ostdeutschen Wirtschaftreformen, zwischen der Westdeutschen Regierung, Arbeitgebern und Gewerkschaften auf. Bereits im Februar 1990 gegründet, führte dieses formelle und informelle Abkommen zur Erhaltung der existierenden Westdeutschen Institutionen, Normen und Akteure der sozialen Systeme und industriellen Beziehungen im vereinten Deutschland. Die Kehrseite dieser institutionellen Erweiterung war die schnelle Etablierung der Gewerkschaftsstrukturen in Ostdeutschland, der letzte Aspekt, welcher in der Arbeit analysiert wird. Die schnelle Verbreitung der DGB Gewerkschaften und der Arbeitgeberverbänden war eine organisierte „tour de force“. Die Kosten für die Gewerkschaften waren die Unterwerfung der ostdeutschen Gewerkschaftsaktivisten unter die „neuen“ Gewerkschaften und die Abkehr vom Kern der programmatischen Forderungen zu Hause.
Was labour involved in the events of 1989-1990 in Germany? Most studies of the East German revolution and the subsequent unification of Germany say no. This study argues in the opposite direction and by contextualizing the dynamics of East and West German labour offers a new picture of supposedly well-known events. The study explores the different ways in which East and West German labour became crucial actors in 1989-1990. It first enlightens the participation of East German workers to the revolution, by revealing the multifaceted overlapping of developments in the shop floors and the streets. Dynamics within labour, the work shows, were a core constituent of the political processes that marked GDR''s end. The analysis then focuses on the politics of four West German unions (metal, chemistry, media, and public service) and of their federation (DGB) and unearths the setting up of a tripartite crisis management of the East German economic reforms, between the West German government, employers and unions. Set up as early as February 1990, this formal and informal agreement led to the adjunction of the "social" dimension to the Monetary, Economic and Social Union of May 1990, i.e. the preservation of the existing West German institutions, norms and actors of the social systems and industrial relations in unified Germany. The two collective bargaining partners became in charge of keeping social tension to a minimum during the economic reforms, through the tools of collective bargaining. The flipside of this institutional extension was the rapid setting up of trade unions structures in eastern Germany, a last aspect analyzed in this work. The rapid extension of the DGB unions and employers associations was an organizational "tour de force." But it came with a cost for the trade unions: the subjection of East German union activists in the "new" unions, and the renunciation to core programmatic claims at home.

The paper deals with the issue of contemporary flat-tax reforms in Eastern Europe and aims to account for the different approaches that various European countries adopted towards the idea of a flat-tax. Empirically, the work is based on detailed studies of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany. The analysis considers three factors being decisive for the flat-tax feasibility: 1./ party system institutionalization, 2./ coalition/opposition cohesiveness, 3./ labor union institutionalization. First, the study is concerned with each of the factor's influence on the political decision-making process in the three country cases. Secondly, on country paired comparisons the findings for each of the countries are mutually contrasted. Although all identified factors seem to be at play with regard to flat-tax feasibility, I argue that it is either the strength or the weakness of labor unions' institutionalization and welfare identity that underlie the political decision-making in the East and the West and as a result determine the flat-tax (un-)feasibility. The absence of welfare identity in the East allows for higher coalition cohesion in favor and weaker opposition against the flattax adoption in contrast to the West.
Series: Discussion Papers SFB International Tax Coordination

This thesis examines the strategies applied by two German trade unions after the collapse of the GDR. It looks at the causes of stability and instability of corporatist systems and their institutions and how these maintain membership and organizational coherence. The study explores the reconstruction strategies of two contrasted West German trade unions seeking to maintain their organizational position and to protect the neo-corporatist industrial relations system that secures their survival. Their strategies for the organizational survival of the unions are determined partly by the neo-corporatist industrial relations structure and partly by their different organizational constraints. The first section looks at explanations of how encompassing trade unions in a neo-corporatist system maintain their membership and their organizational coherence. After delineating the various incentives which encompassing trade unions provide to their membership, the study examines the threats posed by the disintegration of the GDR to the provision of union services and thus to their ability to attract members. The effects of the collapse of the GDR could reduce their membership's willingness to define interests in collective terms (i.e. a favourable trade-off between inflation and unemployment). The study then examines the objectives for an intervention by the West German trade unions in the GDR in order to secure neo-corporatism by incorporation of the East German membership within the encompassing body of the West German unions. The second section looks at the main determinants of the reconstruction process which have been the legacy of low trust in former East German industrial relations as well as the FDGB's inadequate efforts which facilitated the intervention by the West German trade unions in the form of incorporation. The third section assesses the motives of two West German trade unions related to the reconstruction strategies of free labour representation in the GDR. Both trade unions followed the strategy of incorporating the East German workforce by narrowing the existing East-West wage gap (contractual exchange) as well as offering solidarity (diffuse exchange). In particular the motive of contractual exchange reveals the unions' desire to maintain stability within the neo-corporatist environment. As the research on corporatism rarely examines the causes of stability of corporatist systems and institutions, this thesis makes a contribution to our understanding of the strategies to maintain corporatist structures. The sudden collapse of the GDR, with its repercussions for the FRG, provides a special opportunity to analyse the strategy of corporatist institutions seeking to maintain stability.

‘Diversity management’ (DM) has come to dominate human resource equality policies in Anglo-Saxon and many EU countries. However, analysis of trade union responses to DM in continental Europe is strikingly underdeveloped, although there is good reason to suspect that unions may play some role in shaping DM due to their institutionalised roles in issues of equality. This thesis has shown that unions’ influence over DM and their responses to it vary by country, but in ways that are not generally expected. Using a qualitative research design based on documentary data analysis and semistructured interviews and a discursive institutionalism (DI) approach, the study compares how DM has been presented in France, Germany and Sweden, and how this affects the extent of social dialogue on DM and union responses to it. It examines unions’ influence on diversity discourses and the implications of these responses for equality agendas. The research has contributed to knowledge and theory of DM and to the field of industrial relations by: applying the recursive DI approach to analysing how national contexts shape DM and vice versa; by combining theories of institutionalisation with Gumbrell-McCormick and Hyman’s (2013) conceptualisation of types of trade union power to reveal models of underlying mechanisms for when, where and why a social dialogue approach to DM is more likely; by analysing the impact of a social dialogue approach on DM; by providing empirical evidence for Gumbrell-McCormick and Hyman’s (2013) proposition that moral and discursive power, rather than structural, associational, organisational and institutional strength, are more important for unions in the ‘battle of ideas’. The research also demonstrates the value of the DI concepts of actors’ ‘background ideational’ and ‘foreground discursive’ abilities for critically evaluating unions’ responses to diversity management in a manner which seeks to avoid both ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.

The East German industrial relations system was completely replaced by the transfer of the West German dual system of industrial relations after political Unification in 1990. Works councils emerged, the former socialist trade unions were taken over by their western counterparts, and West German labour law and regulations were implemented. The thesis focuses on the transformation of workplace relations, with special reference to the viewpoint of the workforce. It is argued that this approach, which has been so far neglected in the German literature, is necessary for a full understanding of the transformation processes. The study examines firstly workers' (both union and non-union members) perceptions of organisational changes and management, of their workfellows and their new collective representative machinery (works councils, union). Secondly, it analyses workers' reactions towards the establishment and functioning of the new interest institutions. This is done more specifically with regard to workers' inclination to participate in collective activities. By testing a selection of social psychological theories associated with the willingness to participate (theories of rational choice, of social identity, of frustration- aggression and of micro-mobilization), the core end product should be an understanding of who engages in collective activities in this specific cultural context and why. Furthermore, both dimensions, perceptions and reactions, are used to test the hypotheses of the literature that East German workers are strongly individualistic, instrumental and passive with regard to participation in collective activities; and that the newly established works councils and unions have not been successfully "institutionalised" from the viewpoint of the workforce. The empirical study is based on a case study of a privatised textile company (including qualitative and quantitative methods) and on a questionnaire survey of a sample of members of the textile union in East Germany in more than 50 companies. The main findings are that most workers seemed highly dissatisfied with the changes at their workplaces, had strong them-us feelings toward the management, believed in the value of unions and collectivism, and expressed a considerable willingness to participate in collective activities. The new interest institutions were accepted as being necessary, even though their current work was more critically evaluated. This supports the argument that works councils and union have been successfully "institutionalised" from the workers' perspective. The major result however is that workers were not characterized by a strong individualism in contrast to the widespread hypothesis of the literature. Yet, they were difficult to be classified as pure collectivists or pure individualists because many displayed mixed responses regarding different issues. They were equally difficult to classify as purely instrumental, identity- oriented or otherwise regarding collective activities. Thus, the perceived instrumentality of collective action and institutions, union identity, the perception of collective interests and the attribution of workplace problems all contributed to the prediction of individual participation in collective activities. No single examined theory provided a sufficient explanation on its own and they seemed to offer complementary rather than alternative explanations.

This thesis examines and compares German and British trade union responses in a European context following the recent European enlargements which are unprecedented in the history of the European Union. In terms of labour law, a majority of the ten Central and Eastern European countries which acceded in 2004 and 2007 combine weak domestic labour protection systems with a high proportion of workers and enterprises keen to take advantage of their free movement rights under the European Treaty. This has created a climate of fear amongst workers and trade unions in old Member States that their economic and social position is being threatened by those workers and enterprises who may avail themselves of their rights under the Treaty in order to engage in ‘social dumping’. Historically, the European Union has sought to counteract these fears by ‘europeanising’ certain aspects of national legal systems in order to alleviate competition. However, the ‘europeanisation’ of different labour law systems has always proved problematic due to the socio-cultural context within which national labour laws have developed. Following the recent European enlargements, the debate on the role of the EU in ‘europeanising’ national social and legal practices has been revived. In particular, European enlargement has thrown up changed regulatory and opportunity structures for the social partners. These structural changes at a European level have occurred primarily as a consequence of an increase in the free movement of workers, services and establishment. Against this background, the purpose of this thesis is to undertake a comparison of the responses of German and British trade unions to the challenges posed by the recent European enlargements. A successful comparison and analysis of the responses of trade unions enables a determination of the impact that trade union responses may have on new Member State workers availing themselves of their free movement rights under the EU Treaty. There is an intense debate as to how, and if, social partners at a national and European level may be able to contribute to, or hinder, the protection of new Member State workers in Germany and the UK. Depending on how trade unions respond their contribution may be viewed as positive or negative. However, this thesis yields suggestions as to how trade unions could respond in order to facilitate the integration of new Member State workers into the host labour markets and proposes a new model for studying aspects of europeanisation.

Geography
Ph.D.
The European migration context has changed drastically in recent years because of the eastward enlargements of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007. Almost all citizens of the 28 EU member states now have the right to live and work in any of the other EU countries. The demise of borders and removal of formal labor market access restrictions within the EU has spurred substantial east to west migration. This dissertation explored how recent and more established Polish migrants experience and navigate the labor market in Berlin, Germany, given these recent regulatory changes. The study focused in particular on the role of Polish migrants' social ties as well as regulatory and institutional factors. The research involved six months of fieldwork in Berlin that resulted in 44 in-depth interviews with Polish migrants and key informants. The interviews not only gave insights into how Polish migrants integrate into Berlin's labor market but also shed light on the reasons for their migration and various other aspects of their lives. The most striking finding of the study is that Poles have not formed a cohesive community in the city and commonly experience co-ethnic social ties as a "social tax", rather than sources of social capital. The study suggests that a number of national policies as well as Berlin's geographic proximity help explain the absence of a unified and supportive Polish community in the city. Another key finding of the study is that Polish migrants are commonly channeled into irregular, precarious and even exploitive work arrangements in Berlin, especially in the domestic service, hospitality and construction sector. They continue to face a range of informal barriers that push many of them into the margins of Berlin's labor market, despite the abolishment of formal labor market access restrictions.
Temple University--Theses

Magister Legum - LLM
In the history of labour relations, trade unions have played a major role in protecting the rights of employees and improving their working conditions. They have defended their members against exploitation by employers. They have promoted the establishment of labour legislation, which in some countries is quite comprehensive. They represent the interests of employees in the collective bargaining process. Albertyn describes trade unions as"institutions which advance democracy, co-operation, peaceful resolution of disputes and nonviolent negotiation (and which) are intrinsically worth preserving and protecting".' It is selfevident that a trade union needs strength to achieve these purposes. However, trade unions areweakened by the fact that it is not only union members who enjoy the benefits of their achievements, since non-members do the same and some employees thus try to avoid the burdens of trade union membership. It is therefore understandable that trade unions attempt to decrease the numbers of these so-called "free riders". Besides the pressure that can be brought to bear by fellow employees in the workplace, union security arrangements, such as the closed shop or the agency shop, represent another traditional method of strengthening trade unions. The free rider problem, however, is only one of many arguments used in the debate by those who support the establishment of closed shops.

Over the last decade, the role of trade unions in segmented labour markets has been a relevant and strongly debated topic in the literature. On the one hand, the dualisation literature is portraying trade unions' behaviour in Coordinated Market Economies (CMEs) as segmentalist: Confronted with employers' pressures for cost reduction and increased flexibility, unions in core sectors are allowing for segmentation to take place (through outsourcing and the use of atypical forms of employment) in order to protect their members, which are overwhelmingly represented among core workers. On the other, the power resource approach is arguing that segmentation derives from the weakness of employees' representatives which are no longer able to oppose employers' segmentation strategies. This paper will contribute to this debate through a case-study analysis of trade unions' behaviour towards outsourcing in the German chemical and metal sector. We will show that trade unions have adopted both inclusive and exclusive strategies towards peripheral employees depending on three main factors: the peculiar trade unions' identity characterising the two sectors, how outsourcing processes impact on the core workforce and how they impact on the union's organisational interests.

The European Employment Strategy (EES) belongs to the European Union’s „softer“, legally non-binding policy instruments. Many politicians and academics associated its introduction with the expectation for a strengthening of the EU’s social dimension and democratic quality. This article examines whether, so far, the EES can be regarded as effective and legitimate. To illustrate this, the author briefly examines the role of the EES for the development of labour market policy in Germany and the UK.

Die Arbeit untersucht aus der Perspektive der Arbeitsmigration die Niederlassungsrechte der Staatsangehörigen und der Unternehmen aus Mittel- und Osteuropa in der Europäischen Union im Zeitraum 1990-2009. Erörtert werden das relevante EU-Recht und die entsprechenden nationalen Regelungen am Beispiel Deutschland und Bulgarien. Behandelt werden u.a. unterschiedliche Fallkonstellationen, in denen die gewährten Niederlassungsrechte nicht zweckentsprechend genutzt werden. Untersucht werden dabei die rechtlichen Aspekte der unlauteren Nutzung der erwähnten Niederlassungsrechte als eine ungewöhnliche Form der legalen Migration aus Mittel- und Osteuropa. Diese können unter bestimmten Umständen als Mittel eines legalen Zugangs zu sonst gesperrten Arbeitsmärkten der „alten“ EU-Mitgliedstaaten dienen oder als Instrumentarium für eine Aufenthaltsverfestigung in Hinsicht auf die Versuche, durch die Niederlassungsrechte einen vorher unrechtmäßigen Aufenthalt in einem EU-Mitgliedstaat zu legalisieren. Die Untersuchung berücksichtigt die relevante Rechtsprechung im Bereich und verläuft komplex auf drei Ebenen - auf Ebene des internationalen Privatrechts Bulgariens, des EU-Rechts und des deutschen alten und neuen Ausländerrechts.
The dissertation examines the right of establishment of nationals and companies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the European Union from the perspective of labour migration. It discusses the relevant EU legislation combining the corresponding German and Bulgarian national regulations over the period 1990-2009. The dissertation presents inter alia different constellations, in which the right of establishment is not used according to the spirit and purpose of the law. It analyzes the legal aspects of such unfair practices as a nontypical form of legal migration from Central and Eastern Europe in the European Union. In the years preceding the EU accession 2004/2007 and in the transitional periods after that the labour markets of the “old” EU Member States were subject of restrictive regulations. That fact provoked the CEE nationals under certain circumstances to use the right of establishment improperly - as an instrument for a legal access to the aforementioned labour markets, as a tool for acquiring a permanent residence status in the host country or even as an attempt to legalize an illegal residence. The study takes into account the relevant EU and German case law and runs complex on three levels - on the level of EU law and on the level of the corresponding Bulgarian and German law.

The aim of this master thesis is to analyse the labor market of European Union and its certain countries in relation to the immigration with the backgound of various social welfare models. The paper is analysing the topic of labor market of European Union, integration of immigrants on this market, with focus on economies and labour markets of Sweden, United Kingdom and Germany as countries with high level of immigration that are representing three different social welfare models, such as Nordic model, Liberal model and Conservative model. The main objective of this thesis is the analysis of labor markets in selected countries of the European Union in relation to immigration and their subsequent comparison using the background of different social welfare models. The result is the evaluation of effectivness of the various social models based on statistical data, acquired knowledge and performed comparisons. The thesis is divided into four chapters and contains 13 tables and 8 charts.

La Seconde Guerre mondiale a profondément perturbé les sociétés européennes. À son issue, le champ est laissé libre à des dynamiques de recomposition passant par des rapprochements ou, au contraire, par des clivages puissants. Les populations françaises et allemandes ont été affectées au premier chef par ces évolutions. Or, comme les organisations syndicales de travailleurs constituent les principales organisations de masses, elles offrent un angle d’approche particulièrement intéressant pour appréhender le dialogue développé dans un contexte marqué par la partition de l’Allemagne, par la Guerre Froide, et par la construction européenne dont l’interpénétration des économies est un des principaux aspects. Cette thèse considère, à la croisée de la question de la réconciliation et de celle d’une coopération à venir, la mise en place des échanges syndicaux entre la France et les deux Allemagnes, examine la pratique des échanges et éclaire les phénomènes de convergence et de crispation
The Second World War profoundly disrupted European societies. When the war came to an end, a dynamic of recomposition, based either on reconciliation or on sharp divisions, took hold of the continent. The French and German populations were the first to bear the brunt of these evolutions. Because of their numerous adherents, trade unions constituted the most important mass organizations of their time, and consequently offer a particularly interesting perspective on the Franco-German dialogue, especially against the backdrop of the division of Germany into two states, the Cold War, and the construction of Europe, of which economic interpenetration was a main aspect. This thesis considers, at the crossroads of a process of reconciliation and of future cooperation, the establishment and structuring of trade unions exchanges between France and Germany, examines exchange practices, and highlights adjoining convergence and tension phenomena

Le fait que dès ses années d'exil scandinave, entre 1933 et 1947, le jeune Willy Brandt se lance dans le débat sur l'avenir d'une Europe unifiée et en propose des conditions concrètes de réalisation est encore très largement méconnu. Pourtant, la question de l'Europe jalonne les écrits d'exil du jeune socialiste réfugié en Norvège. Cette thèse de doctorat met en lumière ces primes idées européennes, le « rêve des Etats-Unis d’Europe », que Willy Brandt développe en exil. Elle interroge non seulement le rôle de l’exil scandinave dans l’émergence d’une pensée fédérale européenne chez Brandt, mais également la teneur de son projet et son éventuelle originalité. Cette étude repose sur un corpus de textes écrits de la main de Willy Brandt en Scandinavie entre 1933 et 1947. Dans ses ouvrages consacrés à la politique internationale, dans ses articles rédigés pour la presse ouvrière mais aussi, parfois, dans sa correspondance personnelle, l’objectif est d’identifier, dans une perspective d’analyse du discours, le motif de l’Europe unie et de l’analyser en contexte afin de le comprendre et de discerner ses potentielles évolutions. Cette étude se base sur des sources originales et pour partie non exploitées, ce qui a nécessité un travail conséquent de recherches en archives mais aussi, dans la mesure où Brandt publie à cette époque en norvégien et en suédois, l’apprentissage des langues scandinaves. Cette thèse de doctorat montre que par son influence contextuelle et culturelle, l’exil scandinave a marqué la pensée européenne de Brandt et que son modèle d’Europe sociale et démocratique porte indéniablement l’empreinte du socialisme scandinave
The fact that during his Scandinavian exile between 1933 and 1947, the young Willy Brandt has been engaged in the debate about the future Europe and even proposed concrete conditions for its realization is still largely unknown. Still, the question of Europe marked out his exile writings and was as such the focus of particular attention from the young socialist refugee in Norway as early as 1939. This doctoral thesis aims to highlight these early European ideas, the “dream of the United States of Europe”, that Willy Brandt developed during his exile. It shall question not only the role of his Scandinavian exile on the emergence of a European federal thought in Brandt’s exile writings, but also the content of his project, its particularities and furthermore its possible originality. At a time when resistance groups were massively discussing the idea of the European unification, what may characterize Brandt's proposal for Europe? And how did these first European ideas evolve during the Second World War as the contexts of conception and communication also changed. To answer these questions, this PhD thesis is based on the analysis of texts written by Willy Brandt in Scandinavia between 1933 and 1947. The corpus consists of three types of documents: books or monographs about the war and the global international context, journalistic writings (newspaper articles, brochures, pamphlets, conference manuscripts all signed by Brandt between 1933 and 1947) and personal correspondence. The objective has been to identify in all these exile writings the motive of Europe as well as any other element relating to the theme of a united Europe or likely to be part of a more general reflection on international politics and the new post-war European order. This thesis has the particularity of being based essentially on original documents and hitherto largely unexploited sources, which has required a considerable amount of archival research. Moreover, since the sources used in this PhD thesis were written in Norwegian, Swedish and German, learning two Scandinavian languages, namely Norwegian and Swedish, was necessary. This study shows that through its contextual and cultural influence, the Scandinavian exile marked the emergence and evolution of Brandt’s European ideas between 1933 and 1947. The model of a social and democratic Europe the young Brandt dreamed of and developed during the Second World War undeniably bears the imprint of Scandinavia, and in particular Scandinavian socialism. By doing so, the thesis sheds new light on Willy Brandt’s political foothold and shows the importance of his exile years in the formation of a statesman and his foreign and European policy
Die Tatsache, dass Willy Brandt während seines Exils in Skandinavien zurinternationalen Diskussion über die Zukunft eines vereinten Europas beigetragen, und sogarkonkrete Bedingungen für eine künftige Einigung des Kontinents vorgeschlagen hat, ist nochkaum beachtet worden. In seinen Exilschriften tauchte das Thema „Europa“ allerdings immerwieder auf. Vor allem ab 1939 schenkte der junge Flüchtling dem Projekt einer künftigeneuropäischen Einigung besondere Aufmerksamkeit. Zum ersten Mal wird in der vorliegendenForschungsarbeit ein eingehender Überblick über Willy Brandts Europavorstellungen im Exil,deren Ursprung und deren Entwicklung, angeboten, und zwar im Rückgriff auf ursprüngliche,zum Teil bisher unbenutzte Quellen aus deutschem und skandinavischem Archivmaterial.Die Dissertation setzt sich zum Ziel, die Entstehung und die Entwicklung von WillyBrandts frühen Europavorstellungen im besonderen Kontext des skandinavischen Exilszwischen 1933 und 1947 zu analysieren, und fragt folgendes: Inwiefern hat das Exil inSkandinavien die Entstehung und die Ausformung von Brandts außenpolitischenKonzeptionen dauerhaft geprägt? Willy Brandts journalistische und literarische Schriften aus der Exilzeit zwischen 1933und 1947, die ein umfangsreiches Archiv aus Zeitungs-, bzw. Zeitschriftenartikeln, Büchern,Broschüren und gemeinsamen Veröffentlichungen bilden, liegen der vorliegendenForschungsarbeit zugrunde. Ziel ist es gewesen, in diesen Exilschriften das Motiv „Europa“sowie jedes andere Element zu identifizieren und zu erörtern, das sich auf das Thema einesvereinten Europas beziehen oder Teil einer allgemeineren Reflexion über die internationalePolitik und die neue europäische Nachkriegsordnung sein dürfte.Die Besonderheit dieses Forschungskorpus besteht in seiner Mehrsprachigkeit. Die imRahmen des vorliegenden Forschungsprojekts benutzten Texte und Manuskripte wurdennämlich auf Deutsch aber auch auf Norwegisch und auf Schwedisch verfasst. Wichtig war esin dieser Hinsicht, die Originalfassungen heranzuziehen, und damit der gesamtenForschungsarbeit nicht nur Authentizität sondern auch Originalität zu verleihen. In diesemZusammenhang gehörte das Erlernen von zwei skandinavischen Sprachen, nämlichNorwegisch und Schwedisch, natürlich auch zu den Grundlagen des Projekts.Diese Studie hat gezeigt, dass das skandinavische Exil die Entstehung und dieAusformung von Brandts frühen Europavorstellungen zwischen 1933 und 1947 kontextuellund inhaltlich geprägt hat. Im Modell des sozialistischen und demokratischen Europa, wovoner im Exil träumte und das er im Laufe des Zweiten Weltkrieges weiter entwickelte, lassensich nämlich etliche programmatische, kulturelle und politische Einflüsse der skandinavischen– und insbesondere der norwegischen – Sozialdemokratie erkennen. Dabei hat die vorliegendeDissertation die Bedeutung des skandinavischen Exils für die menschliche und politischeEntwicklung des Willy Brandt sowie für die Entstehung eigener außenpolitischer, ja sogareuropäischer Konzepte beim späteren Staatsmann nachvollziehen können

Defence date: 24 September 1991
Examining Board: Prof. Gösta Esping-Andersen (EUI, Supervisor) ; Prof. Claus Offe (Universität Bremen, co-supervisor) ; Dr. Ferdinand Müller-Rommel (Universität Lüneburg) ; Prof. Olof Petersson (University of Uppsala) ; Prof. Alessandro Pizzorno (EUI)
First made available on 14 February 2019
The institutionalization of ecological attitudes in highly industrialized societies is the main interest of this study. Analyses of national politics often underestimates the competing and partially latent interests which are voiced by different political pressure groups. Therefore, I am interested in the response of the workers' movement to the ecological challenge. Although the labor movement does not support the cruder forms of ecologism such as no-growth claims, of all established political actors it is the most open to these demands. This is so because the ecological politics offers an utopia for a modern society. The labor movement has also the aspiration of being a socially progressive force of society that aims for social change. Most directly, the left-wing parties have to compete with other parties that attract the post-material electorate. However, the policy and strategy of workingclass parties are not independent of trade union policy. It is self-evident that politicians of social democratic parties consult trade unions in order to formulate their political goals. But also on the national policy level, unions are often consulted in order to obtain a broad alliance for some political decisions. All these examples should illustrate that trade union policy and standpoints concerning the development of society are important for the better understanding of the political outcomes of society. Yet traditional union policy - and also trade union research - tends very much to generally ignore politics: "Unions are involved in a major way in a very significant activity - the political life of the country - and yet there is considerable evidence that they do not take that activity very seriously".

My dissertation, entitled "All Work and no Play? Labor, Literature and Industrial Modernity," analyzes writing about work that was mostly published in communist and anarchist newspapers during the Weimar Republic. Discussing texts that have been almost fully neglected, my approach departs from existing scholarship on Weimar in two significant ways: First, I analyze these texts in the context of the period's dominant theories, practices, psychologies, and utopian ideas concerning labor. Due to the proximity of artistic and industrial 'production' particularly in the minds and practices of Weimar communists, I consider these literary treatments of work also within the framework of literary and artistic meta-discourses during the Weimar Republic (e.g. Expressionism, New Objectivity, and Productivism). Second, investigating such controversial issues as industrialization, the division of labor, technology, progress, etc., my dissertation leads to a transnational (hi)story in which Weimar Germany can be viewed in the larger context of American imports such as Taylorism and Fordism, their Soviet variants, and pre-industrial counter-models. Chapters One and Two scrutinize communist discourse on work, with Chapter One focusing on the situation in Germany (especially the rationalization drive sweeping the Weimar Republic after 1924 and its literary representations in the communist newspaper Die rote Fahne) and Chapter Two discussing the complex cross-fertilization between German and Soviet communist politics and culture (Egon Erwin Kisch, Sergei Tretiakov, et al.). In these two chapters, I put forth a critique of dominant Marxism-Leninism at the time. Its fetishization of labor and modernization can be found in the texts I discuss (although in highly contradictory terms), and was at the core of the worker-authors' self-understanding as "engineers" of socialism. Chapters Three and Four present the challenge to communism's labor theories and artistic models that arises from various anarchist and syndicalist factions at the time -- groups I summarily call 'anti-authoritarian socialism.' Proposing a veritable exodus from industrial modernity in texts published in Fritz Kater's Der Syndikalist and Franz Pfemfert's Die Aktion, anti-authoritarian socialists ventured to mostly pre-industrial settings both within Germany (e.g. in the case of Heinrich Vogeler's Barkenhoff commune) and Mexico (in this case, through the work of B. Traven).
text

Defense date: 11/12/2009
Examining Board: Simon Deakin (University of Cambridge), Julio Gomes (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto), Marie-Ange Moreau (EUI, Supervisor), Heike Schweitzer (EUI)
First made available online 13 September 2018
The object of this thesis concerns the institutional complementarities between the national systems of corporate governance and employee representation (including collective bargaining) in an evolutionary comparative and European perspective. This thesis defends that there appears to be currently a phenomenon of hybridisation of the patterns of corporate governance in Europe that is introducing market elements in relational/governmental systems and relational elements in market systems. The systems of employee representation appear to be also converging towards a phenomenon of controlled decentralisation that consists in the diversification of the powers of the actors at the level of the company and in the development of new types of agreements. The underlying intention appears to be the recognition of employees as stakeholders of the company. This thesis concludes that the new types of collective agreements may not be effective as a means of counterbalancing the pressure of shareholders and employees are left in a delicate position.

Defence date: 28 May 2010
Examining Board: Jaap Dronkers (formerly EUI/Univ. Maastricht); Anthony Heath (Univ. Oxford); Martin Kohli (EUI) (Supervisor); Irena Kogan (Univ. Mannheim)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
This thesis aims at analyzing to what extent different forms of social capital can help immigrants in the Netherlands and Germany to make headway on the labour market. Two forms of social capital are identified. Bonding refers to a dense network with thick trust and is measured as the strength of family ties, co-ethnic ties and trust in the family. Bridging implies a crosscutting network with thin trust and is measured as inter-ethnic ties and outward orientation. Making use of quantitative research methods, it is examined to what extent bonding and bridging for immigrants in the Netherlands and Germany explain a higher likelihood of employment, higher income, higher occupational status and shorter unemployment duration. Results show that 1) bridging networks positively affect all economic outcomes identified; 2) bonding networks do not affect economic outcomes; 3) levels of trust (neither thick nor thin) do not explain economic outcomes; 4) returns to social capital are much higher for men than for women; 5) findings are similar for Germany and the Netherlands. Limitations and implications are discussed.

The thesis complexly assesses the role of Germany in present European Union and Eurozone, especially its influence and responsibility on the formation of the macroeconomic imbalances before the Eurozone crisis, as well as its resolution. The crisis is caused by a divergence in unit labour costs between member countries, and the thesis aims to evaluate the effect of applied austerity measures in the debtor countries on the adjustment of said unit labour costs divergence. It explores additional policy options available as well. Keywords Germany, Eurozone, European Union, crisis, balance of payments, unit labour cost Author's e-mail Thorrmartin@gmail.com Supervisor's e-mail dedek@fsv.cuni.cz

The diploma thesis deals with Czech political system in the second Czechoslovak Republic (1938 - 1939). In this historically short period, liberal democracy has changed into an authoritative democracy. The power of the right-wing parties prevailed in the political system. In the case of Czech countries a bi-party political system, which is unique in Czech history, has been created. The main aim of the diploma thesis is to describe the political party system in the Czech lands in the Second Republic period, and to look at the political parties that formed it. It also deals with the Second Republic in general, with the historical, economic, cultural and social context of that time. In the final part, there are summarized all the conclusions I came to. The sources were mainly archive sources, specialized literature dealing with the subject and political party periodicals but even non-political periodicals from that time. KEYWORDS Antonín Hampl, authoritarian democracy, Czech - Slovak Republic, Second Republic, Bi-party political system, Munich agreement, Nazi Germany, National Labour Party, Rudolf Beran, National Union Party