The Impact of Media Concentration on Professional ... - OSCE

5.1.2 Survey ResultsBacked by traditionally strong labour unions, German workersenjoy what is probably the most elaborated model <strong>of</strong> works councils.On a number <strong>of</strong> entrepreneurial decisions this “Betriebsrat”has to be consulted by the management. Even though in mostcases the works council has no rights to decisional participation,the long standing German tradition <strong>of</strong> largely co-operative relationsbetween both owners and Betriebsrat guarantee the workforce an important degree <strong>of</strong> influence. This makes for a widespreadfeeling <strong>of</strong> the workforce being adequately represented.<strong>The</strong> Betriebsrat scheme is also applied to the majority <strong>of</strong> dailynewspapers. (Fig. 1)Is there a works council at your newpaper? Fig. 1Yes 93No0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100<strong>The</strong> most extensive interpretation <strong>of</strong> this model can be found atthe Hamburg based media group “Der Spiegel”, where theemployees actually own 49 per cent <strong>of</strong> the company. <strong>The</strong> Spiegelmodel remains, however, an exception on the German medialandscape and has over the years been repeatedly modified inorder to facilitate entrepreneurial decision making processes.<strong>The</strong> returned questionnaires suggest that German journaliststill feel in-line on organized representation with workersand employees <strong>of</strong> other industrial sectors. On average Germanjournalists seem to be quite satisfied with the effectiveness <strong>of</strong>their work councils. (Fig. 2)Trade unions do, however, sense a creeping and pr<strong>of</strong>oundclimate change in their relations to their industrialist counterparts.Economic stagnation has hit Germany hard for the lastthree consecutive years. After almost a decade <strong>of</strong> fruitless debateCOUNTRY REPORTS – GERMANY 101