§ 11. In all firms that are engaged in national Auxiliary Service and are governed by Title 7 of the Industrial Code, and in which as least fifty workers are regularly employed, standing committees of workers must be established. To the extent that standing workers’ committees do not already exist in these firms in accordance with §134h of the Industrial Code or with legislation on mines, they are to be established. The members of these workers’ committees shall be chosen by adult workers employed in the firm, or in a branch of the firm in question, from among themselves by direct and secret voting, in accordance with the principle of proportional representation. Details shall be fixed by the state central authority. In firms that qualify under Par. 1 and employ more than fifty clerical workers (those who are legally eligible for clerical workers’ insurance), special committees (clerical workers’ committees) shall be formed for these clerical workers in accordance with the same principles and equipped the same powers as the labor committees.
§ 12. It is the duty of the workers’ committee to promote an amicable understanding among the firm’s workers and between the workers and their employer. The committee must bring to the employer’s notice and state its position on all suggestions, wishes, and complaints from the workers, insofar as these have to do with the firm’s facilities, wages, and other matters of labor-relations and welfare. At the demand of at least a quarter of the members of the labor committee, a meeting must be held and the issue in question placed on the agenda.
§ 13. Should disputes arise over wages or other conditions of labor in a firm that qualifies under § 11, and should no agreement be reached between the employer and the labor committee, the committee designated in § 9, Par. 2 shall then be invoked as a mediator, unless both parties appeal to an industrial court, a miner’s court, the mediation office of a craft association, or a mercantile court as a mediator. In this case, § 66 and 68 – 73 of the legislation on industrial courts are to be applied accordingly, with the stipulation that the arbitrator shall also issue a finding if one of the two parties does not appear or participate, as well as the stipulation that persons who have participated in the dispute as employer or as a member of the workers’ committee may not participate in the finding of the arbitrator. If, in any firm engaged in national Auxiliary Service in accordance with Title 7 of the Industrial Code, there is no standing workers’ committee either in accordance with the Industrial Code or legislation on mines, or in accordance with § 11, Par. 2 or 3 of this law, then the committee provided by § 9, Par. 2, can be invoked as mediator in disputes over wages or other conditions of employment; the same applies to agricultural enterprises. The provisions of Par. 1, Clause 2, apply as appropriate. If the employer does not submit to the finding of the arbitrator, the workers shall, if they desire, receive the certificate (§ 9) that entitles them to leave their employment. If the workers do not submit to the finding of the arbitrator, the certificate may not be given to them on the basis of the dispute that led to arbitration.
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