Denmark
Background information on industrial relations in Denmark
- 13 Dec 2005
Denmark: Workers from the East European countries counteract bottleneck problemsThe workers from the new EU countries who have come to Denmark since the enlargement of the European Union in May 2004 have contributed to counteracting the emergence of bottlenecks on the labour market - in particular in agriculture and horticulture and in the building sector. This is one of the results of a report published by the Ministry of Employment on 30 November 2005.
- 30 Nov 2005
Denmark: Swedish case referred to ECJ has major importance for Danish modelA Swedish case referred in 2005 to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), concerning a trade union boycott of a Latvian building company operating in Sweden, has raised questions about the right of unions to take industrial action against a foreign employer, in the context of EU rules on freedom of movement to provide services. The eventual ECJ ruling will have significant consequences for the Danish labour market model, which is based on collective bargaining, and the issue has been subject to much heated comment. The social partners and government state that the right to take industrial action is a cornerstone of the Danish system.
- 15 Nov 2005
Denmark: Unions must 'adjust or die' says leaderIn October 2005, Dennis Kristensen, the president of Denmark's FOA public employees' trade union and a member of the leadership of the LO union confederation, criticised LO’s debate and decision culture. LO's break from the Social Democratic Party in 2003 is not visible in its practical work, he claims, and if the unions want continuing influence, then change and innovation are urgent. Mr Kristensen's opponents claim that he is planning for FOA to leave LO and join the white-collar FTF confederation.
- 27 Oct 2005
Denmark: Pursuit of compensation 'weakens bargaining culture'Danish trade unions have been obtaining increasing amounts of compensation for their members through lawsuits or arbitration in the past few years. However, their increasing effectiveness and success in this area come at a price, according to a report from the FAOS research centre, published in September 2005. The study claims that a greater focus on individual court cases may weaken the bargaining culture.
- 13 Oct 2005
Denmark: Social partners encourage the use of agreement-based jobs on special termsA survey published in September 2005 by the employers’ confederation DA reveals that every seventh of the persons who achieved a so-called flexjob in the first half of 2005 has not fulfilled the normal preconditions. A flexjob is a job on special employment conditions combined with a wage subsidy from the state. The employers’ organisation in industry, DI, and the trade union, 3F, points out that a provision in the social chapters in most collective agreements makes it possible for the local partners to agree on jobs on special terms for persons with reduced working capacity without the interference of the authorities. This possibility is not very known and the organisations encourage the companies to get to know it - and use it - better
- 06 Sep 2005
Denmark: Trade union proposes social shop stewardsThe Danish Metalworkers Union proposes employees to elect so-called social shop stewards at the workplaces that can help employees back in the transition to work after long-term absence. The employees’ confederation, LO, and the employers’ conderation, DA, both supports the initiative as long as the tasks is keept within the existing shop-steward system.
- 26 Aug 2005
Denmark: European Court of Human Rights to rule on closed-shop agreementsIn June 2005, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg held a hearing on two applications by Danish workers questioning whether the existence of closed-shop agreements in Denmark is in compliance with the right to freedom of association laid down in the European Convention on Human Rights. The case has fundamental importance for Danish trade unions and indirectly for the country's model of labour market regulation. The Court's judgment is expected in autumn 2005.
- 25 Aug 2005
Denmark: Decline in union membership continuesAccording to a paper drawn up by the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) in summer 2005, the decline in trade union membership in Denmark continues, with overall union density falling from 83.1% in 1996 to 78.5% in 2005. LO, the largest confederation, has experienced a continuous fall in membership over the past decade, while the other two confederations have seen their membership stagnate. Much of the drop in LO membership is explained by changes in the composition of the population and employment.
- 15 Aug 2005
Denmark: Survey shows an increase of fringe benefits as part of the wageAn increasing number of Danish employees receives a so-called wage-packagewhere the actual pay is supplemented by different fringe benefits. This is the result of a survey to be published in August 2005, made by the employers’ association Danish Commerce and Service, DHS, among its member companies.
- 15 Jul 2005
Denmark: 2004 Annual Review for DenmarkThis record reviews the main industrial relations developments in Denmark during 2004.
- 11 Jul 2005
Denmark: Seminar highlights flexicurity in the labour marketDuring 2005, international focus has given particular attention to the Danish so-called flexicuritymodel. Against this background, the Ministry of Employment organised a seminar in June 2005, with the participation of Danish researchers in the field, aimed at identifying the special features of the Danish model and highlighting the links between flexibility and security in the Danish labour market. One of the interventions - presented by FAOS - points to the high degree of decentralisation in the Danish collective bargaining system as a factor underlying the trend towards flexicurity.
- 28 Jun 2005
Denmark: Offshoring found to create new jobsA joint trade union/employer study published in May 2005 finds that the offshoringof Danish companies' activities abroad does not necessarily result in fewer jobs in Denmark. The specific employment effect of offshoring is limited, whereas in manufacturing industry and business services, total employment shows a more positive development among offshoring companies than in these sectors as a whole.
- 07 Jun 2005
Denmark: Industrial action increases moderately in 2004According to new figures published by Statistics Denmark in April 2005, the number of working days lost due to industrial action in 2004 increased again after having been down over three-quarters on the 2002 figure in 2003. Compared with previous years, however, the number of lost working days is still moderate.
- 13 May 2005
Denmark: The expected invasion of cheap labour from the new Eastern EU countries did not take placeIn December 2003 the Danish Parliament passed a set of transitional rules with the aim to prevent an uncontrolable influx of workers from the new Eastern European EU-countries after the extension 1 May. The law demands that new workers work under the conditions of a collective agreement. One year after the extension it is a fact that the expected invasion did not take place. However, especially the trade unions have pointed out several pitfalls that can be used to circumvent the regulations.
- 12 May 2005
Denmark: Thematic feature - unskilled workersThis article gives a brief overview of the industrial relations aspects of the topic of unskilled workers and unskilled work in Denmark, as of February 2005. It looks at: national definitions of unskilled workers or work; the number of unskilled workers and workers in unskilled jobs, and the extent of unskilled work; employment and unemployment among unskilled workers; the regulatory framework; trade union organisation among unskilled workers; pay and conditions; recent initiatives to improve the situation of unskilled workers; and the views of trade unions and employers' organisations on the issue and its implications for collective bargaining.
- 25 Apr 2005
Denmark: New agreement signed for healthcare staffDenmark's 2005 public sector bargaining round was completed in late February, when a new three-year agreement for 71,00 nurses, physiotherapists, midwives etc was concluded by employers and the Health Cartel of trade unions. The cost-increase framework is 9.3% over the three-year period, is in line with the agreements for the wider county/municipal sector and the central government sector. However, the cartel secured a new wage model that includes improvements for lower-paid groups, and a new agreement on local wage formation.
- 25 Apr 2005
Denmark: Finance sector agreements increase flexibilityNew collective agreements for the Danish banking and insurance sectors were concluded in March and January 2005 respectively. As well as pay increases, the new accords provide for increased flexibility in a number of areas - for example, working time in the case of the banking agreement and occupational pension contributions in the case of the insurance agreement.
- 20 Apr 2005
Denmark: Thematic feature - collective agreements on changes in work organisationThis article gives a brief overview of collective bargaining on changes in work organisation in Denmark, as of September 2004. It looks at: the extent to which collective agreements introduce changes in work organisation that take into account productivity demands, flexibility and security in an integrated way; the main areas in which changes are being introduced; the overall success or otherwise of bargaining on the topic; and the prospects for the future.
- 11 Apr 2005
Denmark: New agreement concluded in the green sectorBy the end of March 2005 the social partners in the dairy sector signed a new collective agreement which will run for the next three years. This means that agreements have now been concluded in the entire so-called green sector (agriculture, horticulture and forestry) although it looked at some stage as if an industrial dispute could be foreseen. An unpopular proposal from Arla Foods was withdrawn during the process.
- 01 Apr 2005
Denmark: New agreement concluded for employees in the state sectorA new three-year agreement was concluded for the about 160,000 employees in the state sector by end of February 2005. The main results were a modest improvement in real wages and a wage guarantee in connection with the up-coming local government reform. As a new element in this bargaining field, the state has an introduced a special integration wage for immigrants in order to facilitate their labour market integration.
- 16 Mar 2005
Denmark: New agreement concluded in local public sectorA new three-year collective agreement for Denmark's municipal/county sector was reached in February 2005. Major demands on both the employer and trade union sides were satisfied: employees will receive a general increase of 5.6% over three years; while the New wagedecentralised pay system will be continued, but in a revised form. The unions did not obtain job security guarantees in connection with a coming local government reform, but they did obtain a wage guarantee for the workers affected.
- 15 Feb 2005
Denmark: LO issues 10-point plan to combat relocation of jobsIn January 2005, the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (LO) published a 10-point plan to counteract the consequences of globalisation in Denmark and prevent jobs from being relocated to other countries. The central theme is training and education. Globalisation is a key issue in the current Danish general election campaign.
- 09 Feb 2005
Denmark: Survey finds employer doubts over future of trade unionsMany Danish employers believe that trade unions think too much about employees' interests and too little about competitiveness, according to the findings of a survey of top managers in 264 enterprises, published in January 2005. Employers seem very sceptical about trade unions’ capacity to change themselves from old-fashioned militantorganisations to modern knowledge-basedones. However, the vast majority of respondents are in favour of the Danish model of collective bargaining.
- 17 Jan 2005
Denmark: DA employers' confederation restructuresThe Confederation of Danish Employers (DA) is to lose one-third of its total budget and close its regional network, transferring its regional activities to member organisations. These are among the consequences of a new strategy for the period up until 2010 adopted by the DA executive committee in December 2004.
- 11 Jan 2005
Denmark: Complicated negotiations start in public sectorCollective bargaining over new agreements started in the Danish public sector in December 2004. One of the key issues in the talks will be the sector's decentralised New wagepay system, to which municipal health workers' trade unions are opposed. However, some other unions are more open to some form of decentralised wage setting. The bargaining is overshadowed by the forthcoming general election and a radical reform of municipal structures.