Die Aushandlung betrieblicher Regeln nach dem Betriebsrätegesetz von 1920

Die Arbeitsordnung im Spannungsfeld institutioneller Interessen in der frühen Weimarer Republik

Abstract

This article analyses the negotiation of company-level rules following the Works Council Act (Betriebsrätegesetz, BRG) of 1920 as a central element of co-determination in the early Weimar Republic. It focuses on workplace rules (Arbeitsordnungen) as an instrument of internal regulatory practice that now, for the first time, legally required the formal participation of employee representatives. Using the Gelsenkirchen-based Boecker & Comp. division of the Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH) conglomerate as its case study, the article shows how company rules emerged as the result of complex negotiation processes involving employers, works councils, trade unions, employers’ associations and state authorities. Particular attention is given to disciplinary provisions, which were not only an expression of power relations within the workplace but also served as economic instruments of control. In a period marked by high labour turnover and a shortage of skilled workers, these rules helped to enforce discipline and stabilise productivity. The disputes over their formulation reveal how contested the question of disciplinary authority within the firm was, and how employers sought to preserve their autonomy despite the legal framework of co-determination. The study contributes to legal history by interpreting company-level co-determination as a conflict-driven process of normative production. It demonstrates how, in the early Weimar Republic, a complex structure of negotiated order within the company emerged, which oscillated between state regulation, collective autonomy and workplace practice.