In preparation for the establishment of the Unified Service Sector Union (Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, Ver.di), which had been decided in autumn 1999 (DE9911225F [1]), the leaderships of the five trade unions involved have been seeking support for the final step from their members. On 4
Only a fifth of all participants in the forums established by the tripartite national "Alliance for Jobs, Training and Competitiveness" (Bündnis für Arbeit, Ausbildung und Wettbewerbsfähigkeit) (DE9812286N [1]) are women. This under-representation of women raises the question of whether women and
In a second round of talks on 12 October 2000, the Federation of German Newspaper Publishers (Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger, BDZV) signed a new pay agreement with the German Media and Printing Union (IG Medien) and the German Federation of Journalists (Deutscher Journalistenverband (DJV)
On 16 November 2000, the German parliament (Bundestag) passed a new Act on part-time work and fixed-term employment relationships (Gesetz über Teilzeitarbeit und befristete Arbeitsverträge), with the ruling Social Democrat/Green coalition government, which had presented the draft bill [1] on 27
On 25 October 2000, the Protestant Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche Deutschlands, EKD) awarded for the second time its Arbeit Plus 2000 [1] prize to companies. The prize is given in recognition of good employment policies, and of initiatives to design and secure jobs and support the interests
On 11 October 2000, the IG Metal metalworkers' trade union and the Employers' Association for the Steel Industry (Arbeitgeberverband Stahl eV, AGV Stahl) signed Germany's first sectoral agreement [1] on "working-life time accounts" (Lebensarbeitszeitkonten). The agreement entitles employees in the
On 17 October 2000, the European Union's Employment and Social Policy Council of Ministers met in Luxembourg (EU0010274F [1]). Among the items on the agenda was a political debate, initiated by the current French EU Presidency, on the draft Directive establishing a general framework for informing
On 23 September 2000, the IG Metall metalworkers' trade union and the two employers' associations for the textiles and clothing industry - Gesamtverband der Textilindustrie in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Gesamttextil and Bundesvereinigung der Arbeitgeber im Bundesverband Bekleidungsindustrie-
The Confederation of German Employers' Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände, BDA) and the German Federation of Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB) have jointly called for "the economy" to be made a new subject for study within the general education system for
On 8 September 2000, at a conference in Berlin on "equal opportunities in the economy", the federal minister for families, senior citizens, women and youth, Christine Bergmann, presented the outline of a forthcoming draft bill on equal opportunities between men and women in the private sector. Prior