Works councils and teamwork in a German car plant

Abstract

The paper contributes to the discussion on works councils and teamwork in the German auto industry. General Motors’ Opel plant in Germany has been chosen to study works councils’ participation in the process of introducing teamwork, and the effects of teamwork on workers’ representation on the shopfloor. The paper discusses the “dual structure” of works councils and union representatives, and will examine their role during the introduction of teamwork and relationship to their elected team spokespersons. The two key findings are: first, both levels of workers’ representation have contributed to the successful introduction of workplace changes and second, team spokespersons can be seen as a third level of workers’ representation.

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