Since the 1990s, employees have lost power, fewer and fewer have been paid according to collective agreements – and have therefore had to accept lower wages. But now the lack of staff could bring about a turning point.
They decided it before the constitution was written: on April 9, 1949, the Parliamentary Council in Bonn passed the law on collective agreements. In the decades that followed, wage agreements between unions and employers spread rapidly. Since the 1990s, however, fewer and fewer companies have entered into collective agreements; today only around half of the employees in Germany are paid according to collective agreements. However, 75 years after the decision in Bonn, the question arises: Will the increased power of employees as a result of the staff shortage lead to more collective agreements, which usually mean better pay?