Codetermination In The Coal, Iron And Steel Industry : Germany

Codetermination in the coal, iron and steel industry is the oldest and most extensive form of worker participation. The Coal, Iron and Steel Codetermination Act of 1951 applies to corporations in the mining industry and the iron and steel-producing industry which have more than 1,000 employees.

The supervisory board consists of an equal number of shareholders’ and employees’ members and a “neutral” member. In firms covered by the Coal, Iron and Steel Codetermination Act, the board consists of 11 members (in larger companies it may be increased to 15 or 21). In the case of a supervisory board with 11 members, five members must be appointed by the shareholders and five by the employees. Two of the five employees’ members must work for the company; three (external representatives) must be proposed to the works council by the federations of the trade unions represented in the company. All employees’ members are first selected by the works council and proposed for election at the shareholders’ meeting. The election is only a formality since the meeting cannot reject the nominees. The supervisory board then proposes a neutral member, the eleventh, to the shareholders’ meeting; in the event of a stalemate, this member of the supervisory board has the casting vote.

The members of the management board are appointed and removed from office by the supervisory board. Each management board must have a personnel director as member who may not be appointed or removed against the majority vote of the employees’ members of the supervisory board. Personnel directors are thus so to speak representatives of codetermination within the company management.