Holding the Shop Together: German Industrial Relations in the Postwar Era by Stephen J. Silvia (review)

In the wake of the so-called cultural turn, the history of postwar German industrial relations does not necessarily register as a subject worthy of scholarly inquiry. Recent events, however, might cause detractors to reconsider. In early November 2014, the 20,000-member German Locomotive Engineers Union (GDL) staged a four-day strike in pursuit of a 5 percent wage increase and a thirty-seven-hour workweek. Although the strike was called off on the third day, it effectively paralyzed transportation networks across Germany, leading to chaos at train stations, massive traffic jams on highways, and epic lines at bus depots, not to mention delays in the shipment of goods. As of the writing of this review, the German government is considering legislation that would prevent smaller unions from incapacitating the country’s economy and infrastructure through such actions.

In this 2013 monograph, economist Stephen J. Silvia provides a more positive assessment of German trade unions and their role within the industrial relations system. As the culmination of three decades of research, Silvia’s book utilizes new evidence and an interdisciplinary approach to detail the trajectory of German industrial relations over the course of the postwar decades. In recent years, both trade unions and employers associations have dealt with economic downturn, political challenges, and declining memberships; but Silvia maintains that these organizations can rely on a solid framework endorsed by the state—a system of “supportive pillars” that has made German trade unions and employers associations among the most successful in the world (41). Refuting the “erosion” (1999) and “exhaustion” (2009) arguments of scholars like Wolfgang Streeck, Silvia contends that the industrial-relations system retains a central place in the German economy, providing it with some of its most distinctive features. This present-minded history of the “social partnership” between trade unions and employers associations ultimately celebrates corporatism and its ability to weather economic and political storms.

Silvia’s analysis of the framework and evolution of the German industrial-relations system is facilitated by the unique organization of this book. Chapters one and two focus on the historical framework of industrial relations, discussing labor laws, state institutions, and the distinctly German practice of co-determination (Mitbestimmung). Silvia traces the roots of the postwar system to the Imperial and Weimar eras; and although he does not dwell on the Third Reich, he does suggest that the contentious legacy of the Nazi era “has served as a moderating force to this day” (221). After identifying historical precedents and underscoring the influence of the state, Silvia turns his attention to the central players within the industrial relations system: the trade unions and the employers associations. In chapter three, Silvia offers a quantitative analysis of declining union membership in postwar Germany. Among the more important conclusions are that Europeanization actually strengthened the German labor movement, as did German unification, albeit temporarily. Conversely, Silvia asserts that the decline in Germany’s labor milieu—which he defines as “social custom”—has played a role in the drop in union density. Chapters four and five offer a more historical approach, detailing the separate histories of the postwar trade-union movement and the employers associations. Within these sections, the author pays special attention to how both organized labor and management have recently modified their strategies, experimenting with new forms of recruitment, activism, and collective bargaining.

In conclusion, Stephen J. Silvia has provided economists and historians with a readable and clearly argued story of trade unions, employers associations, and the challenges that they have faced. It uses a variety of sources, including government legislation, membership data, and newspapers, to paint a complex picture of the German system of industrial relations. Moreover, the unique organization allows individual chapters to effectively stand alone, with chapter four providing an especially useful history of postwar trade unions. That being said, the organization does present some problems. For...