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Normally the works council and the employer seek to work together in a spirit of mutual trust. If the interests of the two partners diverge, however, fierce disputes can arise.
Following a secret ballot – in which at least 75% of unionised employees must vote in favour of industrial action – the failure of wage negotiations, and an unsuccessful attempt at arbitration, a trade union is legally permitted to hold a strike. On expiry of the agreed obligation to exercise restraint, warning strikes – that is to say, brief work stoppages – are also allowed as a means of underlining demands during ongoing wage negotiations. All employers against whose company a strike has been called may strike, regardless of whether or not they are in a union.
A lawful strike may have no consequences under labour law for those who take strike action since an employee is merely exercising his vested rights. A strike constitutes a legal refusal to work. Consequently, the employment contract remains in force but no wage payments are made. A strike fund provides the trade union members with support to compensate for this loss of earnings. Non-union members, on the other hand, are left empty-handed.
Employers may respond to a trade union strike with a lockout. A lockout means the temporary exclusion of a number of workers from employment and payment, that is to say by a shutdown.
Text last edited on: 11/2006
Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2007
Reproduction is authorised.
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