Das Nutzungsentgelt für Außenseiter-Arbeitnehmer als Instrument zur Stärkung der Tarifautonomie

Within the framework of historical and legal-economic analysis, the author identifies the widespread possibility of free participation of unorganized (“outsider”) employees in collective agreements via reference clauses as a structural deficit in German collective bargaining law. She examines whether and how the idea of commercializing trade union work vis-à-vis outsiders to solve the free-rider problem, which was already discussed in 1961, can be developed into an instrument to strengthen collective bargaining autonomy nowerdays. By way of legal comparison, she also acknowledges the legally regulated solidarity contribution in Swiss law and concludes with a concrete legislative proposal for the introduction of a user fee in German law.