Innovative protest actions against public sector cutbacks

September and October 1999 have seen protest actions against proposed budget cuts in areas of the Danish public sector, notably municipal funding for daycare centres and primary schools. As well as illegal stoppages by workers, the protests have included action by parents, with blockades of daycare centres in Copenhagen having the effect of industrial action but without involving loss of pay or possible fines for the workers concerned.

September and October 1999 have been marked by a number of protest actions against expenditure cuts in some areas of the Danish public sector. These have notably included actions by parents in Copenhagen and some other municipalities against cutbacks in the area of daycare for children, and by primary school teachers in several municipalities against cutbacks in their area, related to the adoption of municipal budgets for 2000. These budgets must, by law, be settled by 15 October 1999 and objections could thus occur up until this point.

The protest actions should be viewed in the light of the fact that municipal finances are currently relatively tight, while at the same time there is constant pressure on the municipalities to create more daycare places and there will be many new pupils in primary schools in the years to come. Under the budgetary agreement between the government and the organisations representing the municipalities and the counties - the Association of Local Authorities (Kommunernes Landsforening, KL) and the Association of County Councils (Amtrådsforeningen, ARF) - budget increases must not exceed 1% per year, and this is not possible without cutbacks, given the unmet need for services, not least in the areas of daycare centres and primary schools. In this context of increasing tension, autumn 1998 saw public sector protest actions on a larger scale than had been usual since the 1970s and 1980s, and this has continued in autumn 1999.

Traditionally, protest actions against public spending cuts have primarily taken the form of illegal work stoppages by the workers concerned. While these have featured during autumn 1999, an interesting development is that in the daycare and primary schools sector this type of action is, it seems, increasingly being replaced by actions - such as blockades of daycare centres - carried out by parents, instead of directly involving the employees. This type of action means that the employees involved do not risk having their pay stopped or having a penalty imposed in the Labour Court.

The most extensive action was carried out in the municipality of Copenhagen from 4 to 8 October, in protest at demands for savings of 4% in the 2000 budget. A blockade of daycare centres by parents was extended to block rush-hour traffic on the approach roads to Copenhagen, and demonstrations were held in front of the homes of prominent local politicians. It would have been very difficult for the employees to carry out such powerful demonstrations on their own. Overall, events in autumn 1999 seem to point to an efficient alliance between parents and the employees of public daycare centres. The parents have carried out actions without being affected by the labour law to which employees are subject. However, the question remains of how long the parents can afford to back actions which, after all, mostly harm themselves, because of the work-related problems they face when their children cannot be taken care of.

There is not yet a comprehensive view of the extent of the protests, but it is evident that an increase has occurred. However, this does not change the general picture of relative peace on the Danish labour market, including the public sector.