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Issue 2, 2002 |
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Without them Future Comes... Warnfried Dettling: Unions and Civil Society. Remarks on a Problematic Relationship, FJNSB 2/2002, pp. 7-12 Unions are confrontated with a changing environment. According to Dettling unions are not prepared to take their place in civil society. They seem to have lost their ability to participate in the restructuring of politics. In social sciences the future of unions is highly debated. The article summarises the discussion. There is consensus that globalization is setting new tasks. However, recommondations on how to overcome problems vary widely. The authors present five directions the unions could take. Sabine Krüger: Unions and NGOs. Establishing a new culture of cooperation?, FJ NSB 2/2002, pp. 29-39 Many call for a uniting of movements and unions, but nothing changed. Krüger discusses whether movements and unions together can be more than an "alliance of the weak". Differing interests and activites are compared. The author presents conditions of social-ecologic alliances and possible ways of coming closer to each other. The red-green government and unions are linked by fundamental values and political programmes, such as solidarity, participation or social justice. However in the daily politcal debate differences dominate. The shattered relationship between unions and government is documented by the articles of Tiemann and Lang. Tiemann, who used to be in a leading position in one of the largest German unions (IG Metall) and now works for chancellor Schröder, points out the successes of government policy especially for employees. On the other hand, Lang, a leading figure in the IG Metall, critizes the fragmented measures and misses a concept for modernizing the labour society. The evaluation of the Alliance for Employment is contrary in the two articles. Hassel resumes how the Alliance for Employment developed during the last four years. She explains restrictions for the participating actors, i.e. employers, unions and government, and tries to identify the circumstances which would allow gains. Especially the responsibility of the unions for a possible failure is reflected. Important reasons are inner orgainzational structures and the relation between the union's main organization and its subunits. Wolfgang Schroeder: Employer Associations: Continuities and Change, FJNSB 2/2002, pp. 68-77 Besides external resctrictions and internal modernizing processes the influence of unions is dependent on the coherent organization of their counterpart. On the background of the "Modell Germany", the corporatist interest mediation in Germany, Schroeder comes to a surprising conclusion: the decline in employer organisation is a threat to unions' influence. The Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund (German Union Association) is in two ways important for the unions in industry branches: interest representation on the European level and juridical agent. The legally independent subunit is the largest organisation for legal consultance and support in trials. Martin Kempe: Unions and Modern Communication - the ver.di Example, FJ NSB 2/2002, pp. 85-89 After the uniting of five unions to the servicers union ver.di enormous organizational problems have to be handled. One of those is to redesign the communication structure. Kempe discusses options and problems of ver.di's communication unit in its formative stage: organisational structures and heterogeneous interests, but also the vision of an integrated communication culture. |