At a press conference on 16 June 2004, the Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend) presented the findings of a new research report [1]. The report investigates the effects of a 2001 reform of the Federal Childcare and
The current German federal government is a 'red-green' coalition of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) and the Alliance 90/The Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), which was re-elected in September 2002. In 2003, there were four major regional elections at the
At the general election held in September 2002, the 'red-green' federal coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) and Alliance 90/the Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) successfully, if narrowly, defended its majority in the first chamber of
According to figures released in early 2003, total membership of the trade unions affiliated to the German Federation of Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB) fell to 7.7 million in 2002, a decline of close to 199,000, or 2.5%, compared with 2001. As indicated in the table below, the
On 9 January 2003, the Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, ver.di) and representatives of public employers agreed on a new collective agreement covering some 2.8 million employees working for the federal, state (Land) and municipal government. Public employers had
On 10 December 2002, Wolfgang Clement, the new Minister for the Economy and Labour, met with Michael Sommer, president of the German Federation of Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB), and Dieter Hundt, president of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (Bundesvereinigung
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the German system of industry-wide collective bargaining has seen a continued process of decentralisation and flexibilisation. While part of the process has been associated with the increasing use of 'opening clauses' ('Öffnungsklauseln') which – under certain
On 22 October 2002, the collective bargaining commission of the Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, ver.di) approved its demands for forthcoming negotiations with public sector employers. Negotiations were due to start on 15 November 2002 and a settlement is not
On 24-25 October 2002, the Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, ver.di) is holding a two-day conference [1] which seeks to develop new ideas for integrating immigrant workers at the workplace and new trade union demands in support of migrants. This initiative
On 15 June 2002, the German metalworkers' trade union, IG Metall, concluded a three-day 'congress on the future' (Zukunftskongress) which brought together some 450 union activists as well as 350 academics from various disciplines and research institutions. The congress, which took place in Leipzig