• Co-determination: aimed at controlling economic power by giving labour and capital a more equal status and bringing democracy to companies.

Employees are represented at above-company level in self-governing health and pensions funds. At company level elected worker representatives serve on governing bodies such as the supervisory board of companies with over 1,000 employees. This has equal employee and shareholders’ representatives with the right of nomination of employee representatives by the trade unions

(although for companies of over 2,000 decisions involving issues of prime importance to the company such as winding-up, capital increases and changes in company objectives are excluded from co-determination). At plant level codetermination is through works councils which are involved in decision making in such issues as changes in working conditions, production methods, holiday scheduling, recruitment, redundancies and transfers, with management retaining the sole right of decision, with certain rights of appeal (Garrison and Rees, 1994).