A new report by the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE, examines changes in collective bargaining arrangements and worker representation in Germany and Britain between the period 1998 and 2004.
The demise of collective bargaining coverage in Britain has been stark and made worse by the decline in unionised sectors of the economy. In the period covered by the study, the proportion of workers covered by any collective bargaining continued to fall from 26.9% to 21.3%
Trade union bargaining rights in Germany have been legally enshrined by a centralised system of co-determination and works councils, collective bargaining is in gradual decline - between 1998 and 2004 the proportion of workers covered by sectoral agreements fell from 62 % to 53.8% and for company agreements coverage declined from 8.6% to 8%.
Although at 61.8% overall, collective bargaining coverage in Germany remains relatively widespread when compared with Britain.
http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp0954.pdf
