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 Constitu ...
drafted by the
Allied Control Council
The Allied Control Council (ACC) or Allied Control Authority (), also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allies of World War II, Allied Allied-occupied Germany, occupation zones in Germany (1945–1949/1991) and Al ...
to enable the formation 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. 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 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
's Nazi party.
The new Control Council Law No 22 provided a template for democratic German trade unions to re-organise through
collective agreements
A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
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 ''Betriebsverfassungsgesetz'' ''1952'' (
Work Constitutions Act 1952) once the new
German constitution
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany () is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came into effect on 23 May after having been approved by the oc ...
had passed in 1949, and a democratic government had been elected.
See also
*
Codetermination Worker representation on corporate boards of directors, also known as board-level employee representation (BLER), refers to the right of workers to vote for representatives on a board of directors in corporate law. In 2018, a majority of Organisatio ...
*
Control Council Law No. 1 - Repealing of Nazi Laws
References
{{reflist
External links
Full text of Control Council Law No 22 on Wikisource
German labour law
Works council (Germany)
1946 in law
Allied occupation of Germany