Berlin Collective bargaining agreements used to be widespread and regulated working conditions, wages and other aspects of the employment relationship. In recent years, however, collective bargaining coverage has declined. The federal government wants to counteract this and strengthen collective bargaining coverage. In future, it plans to only award public contracts and concessions to companies that comply with collective bargaining standards. A federal collective bargaining compliance law is to regulate this.
Currently, all federal states except Saxony and Bavaria have collective bargaining agreements in their respective state procurement and collective bargaining laws. In most states, these are collective bargaining agreements that refer to existing obligations from generally binding collective agreements or to industry-specific minimum wages that are binding by law. In the states of Berlin, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, the existing collective bargaining agreements are a constitutive and cross-industry obligation to comply with collective bargaining working conditions, as is also planned at federal level. In Baden-Württemberg, this is regulated by the State Collective Bargaining and Minimum Wage Act (LTMG).
The Union factions in the Bundestag have asked the federal government to explain its plans. In its response, the federal government explains that the aim of a federal collective bargaining agreement is to “eliminate competitive disadvantages for companies bound by collective agreements”. In federal procurement procedures, there would then no longer be any reason to give up one’s own collective bargaining agreement. Conversely, the federal government assumes that for employers who have not yet been bound by collective agreements – especially in sectors in which federal public procurement is of great importance – “there would be no economic incentives to refrain from being bound by collective agreements”.
More on the subject: Short inquiry from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group (Document 20/12171) at: