Ervaringen met medezeggenschap in West-Duitsland: resultaten van recent sociaal-wetenschappelijk onderzoek

Samenvatting

An evaluation of a report on workers' participation (Mitbestimmung) in West Germany. The report was made in 1962 by F. Voigt, who utilized a considerable amount of material collected and published in the previous 5 years. 2 areas of the report are singled out for analysis: (1) the position of the 'labor director' in the Board of Directors directie), and (2) the situation of the labor representative in the Control Committee (raadd van commissarissen). A law of 1951 made the selection of a director representing labor compulsory for enterprises of a certain size in the coal, iron and steel industries. This meant that labor has received the right to be represented at the top management level. The labor director is involved in a conflict of roles: he arose from the labor movement but is now part of manag. His actual role in the formation of management decisions is not easy to evaluate because of a tendency to avoid open conflict; his true position would become clearer in a serious business recession. The labor members of Control Committees have a diff position according to whether they are 'internal' (chosen from with the Corp) or 'external' (taken from the labor movement outside the enterprise). Their position, too, is difficult to estimate because of the tendency to avoid 'conflict votes' (Kampfabstimmungen). I. Tangnas.