Interessenvertretung in der Industrie 4.0

The concept of ‘Industry 4.0’ denotes a radical technological upheaval and structural changes in employment, qualification requirements, the blurring of the boundaries between one’s work and private life, personnel checks or the organisation of work. Therefore, the term relates to the core issues of collective interest representation dealt with by works councils and trade unions. German trade unions are trying to cope with these challenges by developing new approaches, among them the project ‘Work 2020 in NRW’, which is analysed in this book. ‘Work 2020’ is based on company-level workshops with consultants, works councils and employees in which maps of digitalisation are developed, new topics relating to work are defined and negotiations with management bodies are strived for. ‘Work 2020’ is therefore part of a broader strategy of trade union renewal, which seeks to activate works councils, increase their capacity to act and strengthen the power of unions in companies.