1 / 18

The Role of the German Federation of Trade Unions in the Welfare-to-Work-Reform Process Michaela Schulze Frankfurt Univ

The Role of the German Federation of Trade Unions in the Welfare-to-Work-Reform Process Michaela Schulze Frankfurt University Reforming Unemployment Policy in Europe: A Common Turn towards Activation? May 15-16, 2009. Table of Contents. Introduction 2. Theoretical Approaches and the Frame

naomi
Download Presentation

The Role of the German Federation of Trade Unions in the Welfare-to-Work-Reform Process Michaela Schulze Frankfurt Univ

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Role of the German Federation of Trade Unions in the Welfare-to-Work-Reform Process Michaela Schulze Frankfurt University Reforming Unemployment Policy in Europe: A Common Turn towards Activation? May 15-16, 2009

  2. Table of Contents • Introduction • 2. Theoretical Approaches and the Frame • 3. The DGB and Welfare-to-Work-Paradigm • 4. The DGB and the Welfare-to-Work-Reforms • 5. Conclusion

  3. 1. Introduction • trade unions and welfare state reform • German Federation of the Trade Unions influenced welfare state development: • esp. after Second World War • but also during the development of major welfare state programs (end of the 19th and first half of the 20th century) • fought for extensive programs (e.g. unemployment insurance) • new challenges since the 1980s: • welfare state is under reform pressure • trade unions are under pressure, too

  4. It is important to look for the role trade unions played in the • welfare-to-work reform process • Did they support or oppose the emerging welfare-to-work • paradigm? • How did they influence the reform process? • Why to look for the German Federation of Trade Unions? • Umbrella organization and a political actor • Social policy interests of the trade union movement • (comparability) • Is welfare-to-work important for trade unions? • these reforms affect programs that are of interest for trade unions • e.g. unemployment insurance, social assistance schemes • “golden age” of welfare state development: • trade unions as an important political actor •  what about welfare state retrenchment?

  5. 2. Theoretical Approaches • Two dominant directions have to be considered: • trade union research • welfare state research • welfare state development within the new context • retrenchment… (e.g. Pierson) • activation/workfare/welfare-to-work discussion (e.g. Peck, Quaid, Shragge, Lødemel/Trickey, Drøpping/Hvinden/Vik , Barbier…) • power resources approach (Korpi) • corporatism (Schmitter, Lehmbruch, Streeck)

  6. Some Criteria: • Political aims of the trade union movement • Access to the political (reform) process • Influence in commission work • Ties to the social-democratic party • Strength of the movement • …

  7. 3. The DGB and Welfare-to-Work-Paradigm • Emergence of the welfare-to-work paradigm in Germany • 1998-2001 • Time between the election campaign and the Job-AQTIV Law • Welfare-to-work paradigm emerged • The position of the DGB during this paradigm shift: • opposition of welfare-to-work paradigm • and hope for social-democratic government and trade union- friendly social policy

  8. Emerging Welfare-to-Work Paradigm inGermany • (1998-2001): • „German problems“ (defined by politicians & scientists): • long-term unemployment • insufficient incentives to take a job, lack of qualifications • ineffective administration • 1998: election campaign of the Social Democratic Party • Bodo Hombach (Federal Minister of the Chancellery) called for reforms • Fördern und Fordern was the main slogan • individual initiatives to take a job, re-balancing rights and duties • Schröder-Blair Paper (1999) - idea of activation • German discussion was inspired by early American reform in 1996 and Anthony Giddens

  9. The DGB and welfare-to-work paradigm change: • Difficult situation for trade unions • social policy cuts of the Kohl-administration • development of membership • Gerhard Schröder (election campaign) • he promised to take back the last cuts of the Kohl-administration • he also promised a new try for the „Bündnis für Arbeit“ (Alliance for Jobs) • unemployment was the major topic • trade unions supported the campaign in content and with money • because of the promises Schröder made • the DGB hoped for: • trade union-friendly social policy • BUT:

  10. within the trade union movement no clear direction about future social policy and about the involvement of the DGB as a political actor! • This is also obvious from the discussion of the Schröder-Blair-Paper • - content and reform proposals were criticized • „ a danger for the German welfare state“ •  denial of „fördern und fordern“ • new welfare-to-work paradigm was seen as a synonym for anti-trade union social policy • problem definition (unemployment, lack of qualifications…) • DGB agreed (unemployment as the major problem) • DGB in favor for further education and training • but opposed the „laziness discussion“

  11. the position of the DGB can be characterized as: • support for Schröder, because they hoped for „good“ • social policy • opposition of the new paradigm • opinion of trade union leaders changed with the victory of Schröder • he demonstrated his plans about future social policy •  on the other hand it is not surprising that the DGB opposed the paradigm because it is a threat to (traditional) social policy goals of trade unions

  12. 4. The DGB and the Welfare-to-Work Reforms •  From welfare-to-work paradigm to welfare-to-work reforms • 2001-2005 • - two major reform steps • - Job-AQTIV Law and the Hartz reforms • The DGB during the reform process • policymaker and disappointed political actor

  13. Welfare-to-Work Reforms in Germany (2001/2-2005) 2 major reform steps: • Job-AQTIV Law (2001) • main elements: activation, qualification, training, investment, job placement • aims: improving job service, active integration of the unemployed, education and training for unskilled workers • slogan of “Fördern und Fordern” established

  14. Welfare-to-Work Reforms in Germany (2001/2-2005) • Hartz Reforms (2003-2005) • Hartz 1 – Hartz 3: • reforming and improving job service, • reducing bureaucracy, • job placement as “service for clients”, • self-employment for unemployed was fostered, • possibilities of sanctioning unemployed were expanded • Hartz 4: final step towards welfare-to-work policies, • unemployment benefits were reduced to 12 months, • unemployment benefit II (replaced former unemployment assistance and social assistance for able-bodied persons), • people who do not take an appropriate job will lose their benefits, • creation of job centers (to end former double responsibility)

  15. The DGB and the welfare-to-work reform process: • „Alliance for Jobs“ (Bündnis für Arbeit) • re-established after the election to find solutions for the problem of unemployment • trade unions, politicians, employers involved • between 1998 and 2002: 8 meetings • agreements about major reforms but not about the content • trade unions declared the failure of the alliance in 2002 • Year 2000 shift in policy strategy of the DGB • (opposition of welfare-to-work ideas) • since then the DGB was in favor of (a strong) activation • called for reforms (some of the topics of the later Hartz reforms!!!)

  16. Job-AQTIV law (2001): • the DGB was in favor of the reform • right elements for integration to the labor market • for a strong emphasis on activation • major topics have been discussed in the meetings of the „Bündnis für Arbeit“ •  Not surprising, because they were involved in the making of the reform!!! • Hartz reforms (2002/2003-2005) •  in favor of the reform proposals made by the Hartz commission • but opposition of real reforms made by the government • because they differed from the proposals made by the commission! • esp. the Hartz IV reform was heavily criticized • unemployment benefit II (like social assistance, not enough to live) • duty to accept nearly every job

  17. DGB was in favor for welfare-to-work ideas • involvement in the work on reform proposals • shift from opposition to support for welfare-to-work! • DGB opposed the Hartz IV-reform: • also involved here • but government did not introduce the proposals of the commission • instead harsher rules

  18. 5. Conclusion: Is the DGB still an important political actor? • Political aims of the trade union movement • - shifted from opposition to support of welfare-to-work ideas • - (but relatively late, because disputes about future direction of the movement) • Access to the reform process and commission work: • Bündnis für Arbeit, Hartz commission, trade union members in the parliament etc. • but: Schröder did not implement the proposals (in case of the Hartz IV- reform) • further weakening of the movement • ( ties to the social-democratic party and strength of the movement) • To conclude: • The DGB still is an important political actor in the reform process but: • some of the problems appear because of problems within the movement

More Related