Majority Rules: German Constitutional Court Confirms Constitutionality Of Tariff Unity Act

On July 11, 2017, the German Federal Constitutional Court in essence rejected actions by certain smaller trade unions against a "tariff unity" law introduced almost exactly two years before. This is a major setback for trade unions representing small but important key personnel within companies, such as pilots, air traffic controllers, train drivers, and employed physicians. The practical impact of the decision is that unions representing such small but powerful key employee groups will continue to have significant limitations to call for an individual strike in order to push through the interests of their members if there is another union represented in the company with a higher number of members.