Institutional transfer and the transformation of labour relations in east(ern) Germany: lessons for central and eastern Europe?

Abstract

The process of transformation in the former East Germany has in many ways been fundamentally different from the developments experienced by the other countries of eastern and central Europe after the dissolution of the Soviet bloc. The following article takes a look at the special character of the East German transformation process in the context of German unification, focusing on the role of institutional transfer in the field of labour relations. Of importance are the questions of how union membership has developed and what kind of relationship has evolved between the unions and enterprise-level representation of workers (works councils). On this basis, some thoughts are presented on the lessons to be learned from this exogenous transformation which may be generalised to apply to the transformation process in the countries of central and eastern Europe as well.