Works councils are "shop-floor" organizations representing workers, which function as local/firm-level complements to national labor negotiations. One of the most commonly-examined (and arguably most successful) implementations of these institutions is found in Germany. The model is basically as follows: general labor agreements are made at the national level by national unions (e.g. IG Metall) and national employer associations (e.g. Gesamtmetall), and local plants and firms then meet with works councils to adjust these national agreements to local circumstances.

Further Reading

• Thelen, Kathleen. 1993. West European Labor in Transition: Sweden and Germany Compared. World Politics 46, no. 1 (October): 23-49.
• Turner, Lowell. 1998. Fighting for Partnership: Labor and Politics in Unified Germany. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.