[1] Historically, Siemens supported and illegally financed the anti-union Works Council lists from AUB [de].
[5]: 34 In 2015, IG Metall international coordinator Dirk Linder facilitated the "Siemens Global Union Network".
[8][1]: 18–19 As of 2016, Siemens AG employees in Germany elected 95 different Works Councils, one for each factory plant (Betrieb).
[9] Arbeitsgemeinschaft Unabhängiger Betriebsangehöriger [de] (English: Working Group of Independent Company Employees; AUB) was founded in the Siemens birth location Erlangen, Germany in 1974 as the Aktionsgemeinschaft Unabhängiger Betriebsräte (English: Action Group of Independent Works Councils).
[10] The Network Cooperation Initiative [de] (NCI) was founded in August 2002, as a self organised peer group for high-tech Siemens employees in the Munich plant.
A fraction of the workforce, 3,200 employees are covered under 14 collective bargaining agreements negotiated by IBEW, IUE-CWA, Steelworkers, IAM, UAW and Teamsters.