German works council elections

Elections for German works councils — bodies representing employees — started last month and run until the end of May.

Workers in almost all private sector organisations with at least five employees have a right to set up a works council, although in practice they are relatively rare in organisations with fewer than 50 employees.

There is also evidence that employers try to block attempts to set up a works council in around a sixth of all cases.

Nevertheless, it is expected that elections will take place in some 28,000 workplaces, and that trade unionists will be the successful candidates in most of them.