Industrial Relations, Trade Unions and Social Conflict in German Capitalism

Ten years ago the German economy was regarded as the “sick man of Europe”. It was during the current financial crises that this view has changed dramatically, since Germany has seemingly performed better than most other European countries since 2008; this is why the German economy is nowadays presented as a role model for reforms. The article analyses the transformations in the system of Industrial Relations in German capitalism since the reunification in 1990. It focuses on the changing structure of employment and the rise of precarious work which is regarded as a result of institutional deregulations by significant labour market reforms in 2003. Precarity is rising since and the German model of capitalism is slowly disintegrating. Trade unions’ actions and their specific integration into German capitalism are now following modified patterns – while the unions are still searching for matching strategic adaptations to the new circumstances.