Control Council Law No 22, Works Councils (10 April 1946) was a
German labour law
German labour law refers to the regulation of employment relationships and industrial partnerships in Germany.
History
*General Commission of German Trade Unions (1892–1919)
* Free Association of German Trade Unions (1897–1919)
*Weimar Constit ...
drafted in
Allied-occupied Germany
Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...
by the Military Government, to enable organisation of
work councils
A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...
in rebuilding the economy and society after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Work councils, which employees of a firm organised and elected democratically to determine workplace issues, had existed in Germany in various forms since 1889. They had been abolished by
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's Nazi party.
[See E McGaughey, 'The Codetermination Bargains: The History of German Corporate and Labour Law' (2016]
23(1) Columbia Journal of European Law 135
/ref> The new Control Council Law No 22 provided a template for democratic German trade unions to reorganise through collective agreements with employers.
Contents
The key provisions of the new Law were articles I and V, empowering trade unions to organise work councils, and providing a template set of rights for elected representatives.
Development
The Control Council Law No 22 was replaced by a more comprehensive ''Betriebsrätegesetz 1952'' (Work Councils Act 1952) once the new German constitution had passed in 1949, and a democratic government had been elected.
See also
*Codetermination
In corporate governance, codetermination (also "copartnership" or "worker participation") is a practice where workers of an enterprise have the right to vote for representatives on the board of directors in a company. It also refers to staff having ...
*European labour law
European labour law regulates basic transnational standards of employment and partnership at work in the European Union and countries adhering to the European Convention on Human Rights. In setting regulatory floors to competition for job-creatin ...
*United States labor law
United States labor law sets the rights and duties for employees, labor unions, and employers in the United States. Labor law's basic aim is to remedy the "inequality of bargaining power" between employees and employers, especially employers "org ...
* United Kingdom labour law
* French labour law
Notes
{{reflist, 2
References
*E McGaughey, 'The Codetermination Bargains: The History of German Corporate and Labour Law' (2016
23(1) Columbia Journal of European Law 135
External links
Full text of Control Council Law No 22 on Wikisource
German labour law