BDA AGENDA 15/24 | COMMENT OF THE WEEK | August 01, 2024

Dr. Katja Scharpwinkel, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, President of the BAVC and member of the BDA Executive Committee

What the social partnership is worth to us

Is a benefit for active members of a trade union the right way to strengthen social partnership?

In the chemical and pharmaceutical sector, Germany's third-largest industrial sector, we discussed this issue at length before and during the latest round of collective bargaining. For months, we explored alternative options, weighed up the pros and cons - and finally made a decision.

As always, there are two sides to the coin and there are also good reasons against such a "union bonus". But our vote is clear: yes, for us it is the right way because both social partners, IGBCE and BAVC, are unequivocally committed to a consensus-oriented, predictable reconciliation of interests. A day off for members of the IGBCE was not agreed in isolation, but at the same time the chemical-specific arbitration regulation was continued unchanged. We still do not provide for an external arbitrator, an arbitration decision passed by a majority is immediately binding as a collective agreement and a peace obligation applies until arbitration is unsuccessful.

It was important to us that IGBCE members do not simply receive more vacation. The day off for active trade union involvement compensates for the time that trade union members contribute to collective bargaining and social partnership in their free time. This time compensation is a sign of appreciation. Because we in the chemical industry want strong social partners on both sides. And in the collective bargaining round, we negotiated very intensively about the best concrete solution to meet this union demand. In the end, one thing counts for us above all: employees will continue to receive equal pay for equal work, and we will not deviate from this. And we have opted for a solution that involves as little administrative effort as possible for the companies.

Since the wage agreement, we have often been asked whether the approach we have chosen will set a precedent. I am of the opinion that our approach is not easily transferable to other sectors. The suitability of such a model in individual cases also depends on the extent to which the parties to a collective agreement in a sector are already bound by social partnership and trust. Our approach would hardly work in a climate characterized by conflict.

We have agreed the benefit for IGBCE members because the IGBCE remains clearly committed to the social partnership in the chemical industry. This includes a consensus-oriented approach to dealing with distribution conflicts. As with all other collective bargaining policy issues, the same applies to this topic: each industry must decide for itself what the social partnership is worth to it.