ABSTRACT
The German system of industrial relations was conceived in the wake of the Second World War. The system of industrial relations in the Federal Republic works together with the state welfare institutions and the institutions of the labour market as well as the market's regulatory mechanisms and institutions. The social security systems, which exist in the Federal Republic, are centred around equal financing by employers and employees. The economic and social situation in the Federal Republic had substantially changed during the 1970s and 1980s. There was no recognition that the unions could not keep uncompetitive jobs open during the structural transformations and that for the most part they possessed only the traditional means of wage policy. To redetermine the role of the trade unions in the structural transformation is an existential question for the unions as member organisations, not only in East Germany.
