SAP and unions

On 23 February 2006, three employees at SAP in Germany initiated the legal process to form a works council.{{Cite book |last1=Kronig |first1=Ralf |url=http://archiv.verdi-gute-arbeit.de/upload/m4a3775bb92212_verweis1.pdf |title=Leben und Arbeiten in der IT-Branche |last2=Reich |first2=Johannes |last3=Schick |first3=Eberhard |date=June 2019 |publisher=ver.di |pages=97–114 |language=de |trans-title=Life and Work in the IT industry |chapter=Partizipation und Mitbestimmung bei SAP: Eine Bilanz nach drei Jahren Betriebsrat |trans-chapter=Participation and Co-determination at SAP: A summary after 3 year works council |ref=2009-reflections}} All three of the initiators were members of IG Metall trade union.{{Cite web |last=Vogel |first=Sandra |date=20 April 2006 |title=Controversy over works council election at SAP |url=https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/article/2006/controversy-over-works-council-election-at-sap |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=Eurofound |language=en}} In a vote held at the election meeting on 2 March, 91% of employees opposed the formation of an electoral board, the precursor to forming a works council. German labour law guarantees the right to form a works council, so the three initiators petitioned the {{ill|Mannheim Labour Court|de|Arbeitsgericht Mannheim}}{{Cite web |date=22 June 2006 |title=Erste Betriebsratswahl bei SAP mit hoher Wahlbeteiligung |trans-title=First Works Council election at SAP with high turnout |url=https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Erste-Betriebsratswahl-bei-SAP-mit-hoher-Wahlbeteiligung-134717.html |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=heise online |language=de}} on 5 March to appoint an electoral board. On 14 March, the SAP Supervisory Board responded by organizing another election meeting on 30 March, with a group of employees perceived as more distant to trade unions to administer the {{Ill|works council election|lt=works council elections|de|Betriebsratswahl}}, making the court application redundant. Other companies, like IBM already had works councils.{{Cite news |last=Landler |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Landler |date=2006-03-29 |title=SAP cool as unions gain foothold |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/29/technology/29iht-sap.html |access-date=2022-06-13 |issn=0362-4331}}

On 21 June 2006, 65% of the 10,800 employees of SAP voted amongst 10 different candidates lists fielding over 400 employees in total. A 37 person Works Council was established for the first time, with 16 seats going to Wir für Dich (We For You), 11 seats to MUT{{efn-lg|MUT stands for Menschenverstand, Unternehmenskultur und Transparent (Common sense, Corporate culture and Transparency){{Cite web |title=SAP AG - Die BR-Listen stehen fest |trans-title=SAP AG - The Works Council lists are fixed |url=https://www.heidelberg.igm.de/news/meldung.html?id=37827 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=IG Metall Heidelberg |language=de}}}} and 3 seats each for the lists Die Unabhängigen (The Independent), ABS and Pro Betriebsrat (Pro Works Council) and the remaining seat to TEAM. Four other lists did not receive enough votes to win any seats. The initial 3 colleagues who started the election process were on the Pro Betriebsrat list.{{Cite web |date=22 June 2006 |title=SAP: Betriebsrat wider Willen |trans-title=Works Council Against their Will |url=https://www.manager-magazin.de/digitales/it/a-422926.html |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Manager Magazin |language=de}}

in December, management promoted a unified works council election at SAP Germany. At SAP Systems Integration (SI), separate elections were held at all 6 locations in Germany. In 2008, SAP SI merged with SAP Germany, resulting in a single works council.

In the works council election on 5 May 2022, 15 out of 45 seats, or one-third went to the IG Metall and ver.di trade union lists. Both works council chair positions were held by union representatives for the first time in SAP history. Eberhard Schick from the IG Metall affiliated Pro Mitbestimmung (Pro Codetermination) list was elected as works council chair, and Anne Schmitz of the ver.di affiliated Upgrade list as deputy chair.{{Cite web |last=Kerkmann |first=Christoph |date=5 May 2022 |title=Softwarehersteller: Zäsur bei SAP: IG-Metall-Vertreter wird Vorsitzender des Betriebsrats |trans-title=Software manufacturer: Breakthrough at SAP: IG Metall representative becomes chair of the works council |url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/technik/it-internet/softwarehersteller-zaesur-bei-sap-ig-metall-vertreter-wird-vorsitzender-des-betriebsrats/28309900.html |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=Handelsblatt |language=de}}

In 1989, one year after SAP went public, it organised Supervisory Board elections as required under the German Codetermination Act. The two elected employee representatives on the board were Gerhard Maier and Bernhard Koller. In the 1993 elections, the union reserved seats went to the Christian Metalworkers' Union.

Prior to 2014, SAP was legally structured as a German Aktiengesellschaft (AG), with a 16 seat Supervisory Board. In accordance with the Codetermination Act, half of the seats are reserved for the employer, with the remaining eight seats reserved for employees, including two seats for trade union representatives who are typically not employees of SAP.{{Cite journal |last=Ales |first=Edoardo |date=2021-12-22 |title=Who is afraid of unions representation? Some considerations on the SAP SE case in the light of EU Labour Law. |url=https://illej.unibo.it/article/view/14085 |journal=Italian Labour Law e-Journal |language=en |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=71–83 |doi=10.6092/issn.1561-8048/14085 |issn=1561-8048}} Afterwards SAP converted into SAP SE, a European Company. Similar to the German Codetermination Act, employee representation in the Supervisory Board is required under the European Union Employee Involvement Directive 2001. Currently, SAP SE (across Europe) has 18 seats, with half reserved for employees.

In the 2024 Supervisory Board election, two members of IG Metall/Ver.di are back after four years. Works council chair Eberhard Schick was elected to the Board from the IG Metall mandate and ver.di member Andreas Hahn was elected from the European Works Council mandate.{{Cite web |last=Kerkmann |first=Christoph |date=29 April 2024 |title=Gewerkschaften sind wieder im Aufsichtsrat von SAP vertreten |trans-title=Trade unions are once again represented on the Supervisory Board of SAP |url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/technik/it-internet/it-konzern-sap-gewerkschaften-sind-wieder-im-aufsichtsrat-vertreten/100035902.html |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=Handelsblatt.com |language=de}}

The German Federal Labour Court referred in 2020, a question to the European Court of Justice (C-677/20), whether German legislation on trade union representation in Supervisory Boards is compatible with Article 4 of the Employee Involvement Directive, specifically whether distinct elections for employee representatives and trade union representatives must be maintained. The Court Advocate-General agreed that national laws with regards to trade union representatives and electoral procedures remained applicable even after the conversion of an Aktiengesellschaft into a European Company.{{Cite web |date=1 January 2021 |title=Case C-677/20 |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:62020CN0677&from=EN |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=Official Journal of the European Union |publisher=EUR-Lex}}

A provision in the agreement between SAP and the Special Negotiation Body for the new SE Works Council would allow for SAP to reduce the Supervisory Board to 12 seats, of which six are reserved for employees, four in Germany specifically. While trade unions ver.di and IG Metall would continue to be able to nominate representatives, they would no longer be able to hold separate elections as previously done in the German Aktiengesellschaft form.

The Israeli branch of SAP is unionised under the Cellular, Internet and High-Tech Workers Union of the Histadrut trade union federation.{{Cite news |title=Israeli Tech vs. Israeli Unions: Two Local Powerhouses Set to Collide |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/2022-02-27/ty-article/.premium/tech-vs-unions-two-israeli-powerhouses-set-to-collide/0000017f-f3fd-d497-a1ff-f3fd3d8a0000 |access-date=2022-06-14}} A collective agreement signed in 2020 between SAP and Histadrut covers 800 workers in Israel.{{Cite web |date=14 December 2020 |title=SAP Management in Israel and the Histadrut Renewed the Collective Agreement |url=https://www.histadrut.org.il/eng/press_release/17308989/SAP_Management_in_Israel_and_the_Histadrut_Renewed_the_Collective_Agreement |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=Histadrut |language=en}}

• Volkswagen and unions
• Google worker organizations
• IBM and unions
• Unionization in the tech sector

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{{Reflist}}

• [https://tk-it.verdi.de/unternehmen/sap Verdi SAP portal] (in German)
• [https://www.heidelberg.igm.de/news/thema.html?id=4195 IG Metall SAP portal] (in German)

{{Multinational unions}}{{SAP SE}}

Employee

Category:Tech sector trade unions

SAP

Category:Labor relations in Germany