Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB)

The DGB stands for a social solidarity. Work and income have to be distributed fairly and people must receive equal chances independent of their origin, skin colour or gender. The DGB offers trendsetting concepts for a social market economy tailored to suit changed social frameworks. The DGB brings together the individual unions, unites them to an effective whole and represents their joint interests. It is the voice of the unions vis-à-vis political decision-markers, parties and associations on a federal, state and municipal level. It coordinates union activities but as an umbrella organisation it does not conclude collective agreements. On an international level, the DGB is a member of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and it represents the German union movement with international institutions such as the EU, the United Nations, the IAO, international finance institutions (IWF and Weltbank) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).