Die Grenzen selbstorganisierten Handelns : attraktive Pflegeberufe durch Tarifautonomie ?

The long-term care sector is often characterised by poor working conditions and low social recognition. Collective bargaining between trade unions and employers’ associations could ideally help to remedy the situation, yet joint regulation remains rare in the sector. Against this backdrop, the article examines the current organisation of labour relations and the limits of collective bargaining autonomy in long-term care in Germany. It argues that the weakness of collective bargaining reflects insufficient self-organisation on the part of the social partners. While trade unions lack the resources to effectively represent worker interests, the employers’ associations have the means but not the will to engage in collective bargaining. The result is a system of defective interest mediation that cannot easily be substituted by political interventions.