Several days later, December 4, 1918, there was drawn up the “statutes of the _Arbeitsgemeinschaft_ of the employers and employés of Germany.” All German industries were divided into a certain number of groups, which had common organs composed half of employers and half of workers, each elected by their respective organizations. There was in addition a central council, which was the _Arbeitsgemeinschaft_ of all the employers and organized workers of all German industries. Its members were elected by the groups from their membership; and these in turn elected a Central Committee, which executed the decisions of the Central Council.
All these organs--and this point must be emphasized--were composed half of employers and half of workers. The parity principle is at the basis of the whole organization of the _Arbeitsgemeinschaften_. Thus all economic and social questions concerning industry and labour were regulated by committees in which the employers’ associations and the labour unions were each represented by one-half in each committee. The _Arbeitsgemeinschaft_ is a treaty of peace.
In addition on December 23, 1918, the Commissars of the People signed a decree “on collective agreements, workers and employers committees, and the arbitration of labour disputes.” This decree[59] maintained the committees which were developed during the war by virtue of the law for patriotic service, and increased their powers. Here, too, the whole mechanism rested on the parity principle. According to this decree, committees of workers and employers had to be organized in all industries, in all the administrative bodies and in all offices where there were at least twenty labourers or employés. These had as their mission the protection of the economic interests of labourers and employés against employers in the factories, administrative bodies and offices. The committees had to supervise in co-operation with the bosses the carrying out of the various provisions in the collective contracts. In factories where there was no collective contract the committees were supposed to co-operate in the regulation of wages and other conditions of labour in agreement with the economic representatives of the workers and employés. It was their task, in addition, to maintain good relations among the workers, as well as between the workers and employers.