Jørgensen, Carsten

On 14 October 1999, during a debate in the Danish parliament (Folketinget), the Minister of Labour, Ove Hygum, was asked the following question by the labour affairs spokesperson of the Christian People's Party (Kristeligt Folkeparti) Ole M Nielsen: "What initiatives will the government take in order to limit or avoid the use of collective industrial action within areas of social importance in the health sector, and simultaneously secure the rights of the employees to a necessary extent?" Mr Hygum answered: "None".

John Larsen, the chair of the Cartel of Building, Construction and Woodworkers' Unions (Bygge-, Anlægs- og Trækartellet, Bat-kartellet) - affiliated to the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) - has sharply criticised the Ministry of Labour's proposal, made at the end of July 1999, for new rules on the posting of workers. The proposal (/Udkast til forslag til lov om udstationering af lønmodtagere/) seeks to transpose into Danish law the EU Directive concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (96/71/EC) [1]. The basic principle of the Directive is that a basic core of working conditions and pay provisions in effect in a Member State should be applicable both to workers from that state, and those from other EU countries posted to work there. The core rules include matters such as working time, holidays, minimum pay rates, health and safety and equality. [1] http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&numdoc=31996L0071&model=guichett

Given an increasing amount of contracting out of public services and the privatisation of state-owned corporations, and after a freeze on the new employment of public servants which has so far lasted two years, it seems there is no future for trade unions in solely organising public servants and other employees in the public sector. The large public sector trade unions have drawn this lesson and have, so to speak, moved with their old members into the private sector, representing more and more private sector workers. This has caused discord within the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) (DK9709129F [1]). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-business/privatisation-and-contracting-out-causes-inter-union-conflict

In September 1999, the Confederation of Danish Industries (Dansk Industri, DI) held a series of meetings to highlight the wish of Danish industrial enterprises to institute working time flexibility in order to enable employees to work more or less than the standard 37 hours per week at certain times of the year. During the spring 1998 collective bargaining round in industry, employers prioritised improved possibilities to institute more flexible working hours in companies, and succeeded in realising this demand. The new collective agreement made it possible to average out the 37-hour week over a 52-week reference period (DK9803158F [1]). In practice, this means that the enterprises with large seasonal variations in demand are able to let their employees work more hours in the peak season and fewer during the rest of the year. However, the agreement made the introduction of such arrangements dependent on a local agreement between management and employees. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-working-conditions/breakthrough-in-industry-sector-on-brink-of-conflict

With the private sector's major industrial dispute of spring 1998 in mind (DK9805168F [1]), the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) and the Danish Employers' Confederation (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA), have decided to make joint arrangements for the 2000 collective bargaining round, in order to avoid a repetition of the conflict. The two confederations have thus entered a framework "agreement laying down rules for decentralised (ie sector level) bargaining within the DA/LO area". The so-called "climate agreement", which was presented on 14 September 1999, seeks to maintain the right of the two confederations' individual member organisations to conduct decentralised negotiations, while at the same time committing DA and LO to work resolutely towards a settlement and to try to avoid a collapse of negotiations. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-industrial-relations/parliament-intervenes-to-end-major-conflict

The advantages of Denmark joining the third stage of EU Economic and Monetary Union (EMU, or Den Økonomiske og Monetære Union, ØMU) far outweigh the disadvantages. On the other hand, seen in the light of the economic policy which Denmark has pursued since the end of the 1980s, it would not trigger economic chaos if, following a new referendum, the Danes chose to remain outside EMU. However, if they do, they will of course lose the advantages connected with EMU.

In a recent high-profile incident, a Muslim woman of Lebanese origin was rejected for employment by Denmark's two largest supermarket chains because she refused, if employed, to remove the headscarf that she wore according to Muslim tradition. The woman concerned, Maria Mawla, brought the matter to to attention of the press in late July 1999. The national supermarket chains concerned - the Danish Consumer Cooperative (Forenede Danske Brugsforeninger, FDB) and Dansk Supermarked- refused to employ Muslim women in headscarves to work at check-out desks or other visible places in their outlets. They claimed that: individual headgear is contrary to their ways and customs; headscarves are unhygienic and not compatible with the stores' principles concerning uniforms; and the presence of staff in headscarves may put off many customers.

The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) reportedly wants to change the fundamental structure of Danish industrial relations, according to a proposal which is still before the confederation's executive committee for approval. It seeks the abolition of the employers' right to direct and divide the work, enshrined in the basic agreement [1] (hovedaftalen) with the Danish Employers' Confederation (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA) which determines the fundamental rules of the labour market, as well as a wider revision of the agreement. The background to this proposal, entitled /Welfare is an obligation/, is that LO wants greater flexibility in industrial relations, whereby employees and employer at the individual workplace level would enter into a contract which determines the quantity of work the employees have to perform and the payment for this work. It is stated in the introduction to the proposal that "this contract should also deal with the working environment, social considerations, the division of profits etc. Accordingly, it would be up to the wage earners collectively to direct and divide the work and the payment". [1] http://www.denmarkemb.org/labor/lab12.htm

Around 450 hospital orderlies and cleaners at three hospitals in the county of Frederiksborg went on strike on 16 August 1999 in protest against a proposal by the county council - headed by county mayor,Lars Lykke Rasmussen- that all hospital orderly and cleaning work should be put out to tender by private companies. The unofficial strike was a culmination of a long period of dissatisfaction with statements from counties and municipalities in the metropolitan area that they will outsource a large number of public tasks to the private sector to achieve budget cuts. The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen Danmark, LO) organisation in the Copenhagen area stated that the outsourcing plans indicated disdain for the municipal and county employees and their performance over many years, and warned directly that labour disputes might occur.