This research project connects with the discourse on the processes of change in the 1970s and early 1980s with the aim of filling a sensitive research gap in the history of trade unions. The project focuses on the Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund (German Trade Union Confederation, DGB), the Gewerkschaft Handel, Banken und Versicherungen (Trade, Banking and Insurance Union, HBV), and the Industriegewerkschaft Chemie-Papier-Keramik (Chemical, Paper and Ceramic Union, IG CPK). The discourse level is systematically connected here with the unions’ politics and workplace practices. The project investigates the following in particular: 

• The perception of economic and societal processes of change by the DGB, the HBV, and the IG CPK.

• The politics and union practices of the HBV in light of the changing financial sector, using the example of Dresdner Bank.

• The politics and union practices of the IG CPK in light of the changing chemical industry, using the example of Bayer.