Most HK members work for multinational companies

Distribution of HK members by national/multinational status of employer

Source: HK.

Challenge to trade unions

The same trend towards an increasing number of 'multinational workplaces' due to mergers and takeovers also applies to two other major trade unions affiliated to the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) - the General Workers’ Union (Specialarbejderforbundet i Danmark, SiD) and the Union of Danish Metal Workers (Dansk Metal), which both organise many workers in the industrial sector. Although no concrete figures are yet available as they are for HK, the international secretaries of the two unions confirm that more than half of their members are working in foreign-owned companies or Danish companies with foreign subsidiaries - often with a complicated structure which it is difficult to see through. According to HK, it is not appropriate that the ownership and management structures are so non-transparent in many multinationals and that, for example, Danish managers might have to consult European-level managers who, for their part, might be accountable to American managers.

According to HK, the growing internationalisation of companies poses a number of challenges, including the following.

• In 1997, HK issued a proposal for a European system of labour law and industrial relations, including a 'basic agreement' between employers and trade unions in line with the Danish model (DK9712143F). Is there a need to revise this proposal? And how can this initiative best be communicated and promoted?

• In the autumn of 2003, the European Commission is to consult the social partners on the revision of the EU Directive (94/45/EC) on European Works Councils (EWCs) (EU0212208F), which HK views as having many deficiencies. What are HK's wishes in relation to the revision of the Directive? And what initiatives can HK take in the short terms with a view to strengthening work in EWCs?

• Is there a need for a new strategy for HK’s work in supporting employee representatives? This could, for instance, take the form of assistance in evaluating company finances, assets, productivity etc in those very large enterprises where HK has members. How can HK become better and more professional in preparations for collective bargaining rounds etc?

• Is there a need for a more detailed study of how internationalisation affects HK's more than 90,000 active members employed in local public administration or central state administration?

Key role of employee representatives

In connection with the HK study, several employee representatives indicated that they had not obtained sufficient backing and support in the area of internationalisation from LO and from the leaderships of individual trade unions. A handbook about the scope and consequences of globalisation and internationalisation and a handbook setting out the most common English-language terminology in this field are examples of the kind of support that employee representatives are looking for in multinational companies, where many of their colleagues and managers are no longer exclusively found in Denmark. Employee representatives need better skills when working in a European-based company than in a purely Danish-owned company, it is stated. There are many more rules to administer, such as those relating to information and consultation over major restructuring in multinational companies. Another example is wage negotiations, which typically do not take place so directly between the parties concerned in multinationals as they do between management and employees in Danish enterprises.

Commentary

The EU Directive on EWCs came into force in 1996, but fewer than half of the multinational enterprises based in Denmark which are covered by the Directive have so far set up an EWC (according to figures from the European Trade Union Institute). This clearly reflects the lack of willingness and interest in Denmark, where EWCs are widely seen as a European invention which will not function in Denmark. According to HK, this attitude needs to be revised immediately because it is absolutely necessary to move influence and power to where they are most needed. European initiatives have already been taken by trade unions with a view to a certain degree of coordination of collective bargaining, in order to avoid 'wage dumping', but there is probably still a long way to go before we see actual European-level collective agreements (TN9907201S). However, in the opinion of both industrial relations researchers and senior HK officials, the results of the recent study show an urgent need for a softening of prevalent attitudes towards the European Union. In their opinion, Danish trade unions should try to obtain influence on EU industrial relations policy and seek a 'basic agreement' at the European level and the establishment of a European system for the resolution of industrial disputes.

Furthermore, it is equally important that employee representatives are better equipped for performing their tasks in companies in the wake of globalisation. Jens Pors, the president of HK Industry, believes that the trade unions have been very reluctant to take the concepts of globalisation and internationalisation seriously and have equipped employee representatives only for conducting negotiations with members of the Confederation of Danish Industries (Dansk Industri, DI). He sees this at a clear example of Danish unions' failure to address this problem in a timely and adequate way. He therefore invites the unions to face this challenge and the necessary changes in attitudes. (Carsten Jørgensen, FAOS)