Unions and Works Councils

Unions and works councils both protect workers’ rights, but their roles are different, with works councils being most common in Europe. Listen to the explanation about how unions and works councils operate in Germany, then answer the questions about the key vocabulary. If you find the listening difficult, you can also read the script at the bottom of the page.

1. External organizations that help protect workers’ rights in the whole industry are called:

 works councils

 unions

 supervisory boards

2. A formal agreement between unions and employers that sets wages and working conditions is called a:

 supervisory board

 works agreement

 collective agreement

3. If workers go on strike to demand better conditions, this is an example of:

 industrial action

 works agreement

 dismissal protection

4. If a worker is fired without a valid reason, it is called:

 industrial action 

 unfair dismissal

 collective agreement

5. In countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, workers elect a group to represent their interests in the workplace. This group is called the:

 supervisory board

 works council

 union

6. Rules made specifically between a company and its works council are called:

 works agreements

 collective agreements

 industrial action

7. Workers help make big decisions in a company through:

 dismissal protection

 co-determination

 industrial action

8. The group that oversees major decisions in a company and includes both workers and employer representatives is called a:

 supervisory board

 works council

 union

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What do you think of unions and works councils? Do you have them in your country?

Script

Today we are going to look at unions, also called trade unions, and works councils, sometimes called workers’ councils, which have similar roles, but also some key differences. 

Unions are very common in many countries around the world. They are organizations which protect the rights and represent the interests of all the people who work in a certain industry, for example, there are teachers’ unions, transport workers’ unions, and so on. Unions work with employers to agree on wages and working conditions through collective bargaining. These agreements are written down as collective agreements. If workers and employers cannot agree, workers might take industrial action, like going on strike. Unions also support and represent  workers in cases of unfair dismissal, when an employee loses their job without a valid reason.

Works councils are not common in every country, and can mainly be found in western European nations, such as Germany and the Netherlands. They are internal organizations, and so each company has its own works council. They consist of a group of employees who are elected by the other employees to represent them to the upper management. For example, the works council may negotiate a formal agreement with the company called a works agreement. This is an official document that sets rules and policies that apply specifically to that company, such as working hours, breaks, overtime, or vacation policies.

Workers councils are part of a larger concept called co-determination, which means that employees have the right to help make decisions in the company. For example, workers are part of the supervisory board. This is a group that helps oversee big decisions in a company, like budgets and hiring top managers. Workers and employers both have representatives on this board.