What Triggers the Establishment of a Works Council?

This paper analyses events that trigger the establishment of a works council and the actor or agent who triggers it. The paper extends previous research in two dimensions. First, we examine specific events that motivate workers to establish a works council, such as a change of owner, founding a spin-off, a firm-acquisition or a radical restructuring. These events express risk protection as workers’ primary motivation for establishing a works council. Second, we analyse the actor or agent who triggers the establishment of a works council and show that management is involved in one third of all cases and has, in a minority of cases, motivated workers to establish a works council. Managerial involvement in the process of establishment reveals a positive managerial response to worker representation.