Jørgensen, Carsten
Cooperation to combat illegal labour
21 augusztus 2003
On 13 August 2003, the police raided the Fredericia shipyard and seven
illegal workers – five Polish and two Philippine nationals – were
arrested. This action was the result of several months’ investigation based
on information from an alleged organiser of a network of illegal workers. The
raid followed a tip-off from the local branch of the General Workers’ Union
(Specialarbejderforbundet i Danmark, SiD) which had discovered that illegal
workers employed by a subcontractor were to work on the surface treatment of
a ship. The illegal workers at Fredericia were paid around DKK 45 per hour,
irrespective of the time of the day and the day of the week when they were
working. This is about one-third of the wage paid to Danish workers under the
relevant collective agreements.
Building workers' union to organise self-employed
21 augusztus 2003
The Union of Wood, Industrial and Building Workers (Træ-Industri-Byg, TIB)
has announced that it will establish an affiliated organisation to recruit as
trade union members self-employed 'sole operators' working in the
construction industry. These sole operators work alone without any employees
and do not meet the conditions to be considered as companies, as all they
provide is their own labour - ie in reality they work as normal wage earners
(they are known as 'arme og ben-firmaer', or 'arms and legs firms'). TIB
estimates that there are around 11,000 such sole operators, and the number is
increasing. According to the union, their presence in the industry results in
'dumping' in terms of prices and safety. Typically, they work at lower wages
than employees covered by a collective agreement, and TIB and the trade union
bargaining cartel in building and construction, (Bygge-, Anlægs- og
Trækartellet, BAT-kartellet) see this as a serious problem. Together the
unions are aiming to combat this phenomenon, both through unionising the more
'serious' of the self-employed sole operators and closing down the less
serious 'arms and legs firms'.
Thematic feature - posted workers
21 július 2003
EU Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of
the provision of services [1] seeks to avoid 'social dumping' by ensuring
that a minimum set of rights is guaranteed for workers posted by their
employer to work in another country. The basic principle is that the working
conditions and pay 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 Directive covers undertakings established in a Member State,
which, in the framework of the transnational provision of services, post
workers to the territory of another Member State.
[1] http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=31996L0071&model=guichett
Building industry unions cease cooperation with employers’ association
07 július 2003
A recent statement from the managing director of the Association of Employers
in the Danish Building Industry (Dansk Byggeri) has angered trade unions
represented in the building industry, the General Workers' Union
(Specialarbejderforbundet i Danmark, SiD) and the Union of Wood, Industrial
and Building Workers (Forbundet Træ-Industri-Byg, TIB). He stated that it
would be a sign of bad management and leadership if Danish building industry
employers did not take advantage of the opportunity to employ workers from
Poland and the Baltic states after they join the European Union in 1 May
2004. Such workers could be hired at the lowest wage laid down in the
relevant collective agreement without any difficulty. Normally Danish workers
are paid close to the double the sector's minimum wage of DKK 94 per hour
because of local agreements and acquired bonus entitlements. Hiring a central
or eastern European worker on the lowest possible wage might breach the
spirit of the wage development agreed in collective bargaining, but would not
be against any collectively agreed or legislative provision. The employers
also state that Danish workers on a building site will not be able to demand
that new recruits from eastern Europe be paid at the same rate as them.
Agreement concluded on Faroe Islands after major strikes
10 június 2003
A large-scale strike which began in early May 2003 more or less paralysed the
Faroe Islands. Ships bringing goods and food from Denmark were not unloaded
and supplies in shops began to run out. Petrol stations did not receive
supplies of petrol and the oil tanks in houses were not refilled. Schools and
kindergartens were closed down due to lack of cleaning. Furthermore, all
Faroese fish markets and fish processing companies were hit hard by the
strike. Overall, about 30% of the working population stopped working due to
the strike.
Most HK members work for multinational companies
26 május 2003
A recent study [1] carried out by the Union of Commercial and Clerical
Employees in Denmark (Handels- og Kontorfunktionærernes Forbund, HK) and
published in February 2003 examines the ownership of its members’
workplaces, and finds that 75% of members work for a multinational
enterprise. Furthermore, nearly half of the DK members covered by the study
(46.1%) work for a multinational enterprise which is mainly foreign-owned.
The extent of this 'internationalisation' has come as something of a surprise
for Danish trade unions, which until now had not seen concrete statistics
showing that globalisation is affecting so many of their members. HK is
Denmark's largest union.
[1] http://hk-pro32.hk.dk/hkwww/html.nsf/vFILES/multinationalehk/$FILE/multinationale HK.doc?OpenElement
Slaughterhouse workers choose more leisure time over higher wages
06 május 2003
During the early months of 2003, the Danish Food and Allied Workers’ Union
(Nærings –og Nydelsesmiddelforbundet, NNF) negotiated over a new
collective agreement for the slaughterhouses and meat processing sector with
the employers, represented for the first time by the Confederation of Danish
Industries (Dansk Industri, DI) (DK0302102F [1]). The result was a collective
agreement running for only one year, which means that the next bargaining in
the sector will form part of the major industrial sector negotiations to be
held in 2004 (slaughterhouses and meat processing had previously negotiated
on a separate timetable). The most interesting feature of the new collective
agreement is the so-called 'free choice' scheme, which provides that workers
can now choose between spending 2.7% of the wage bill on more leisure time, a
higher pension or higher wages.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-agreements-introduce-individual-options-for-employees
SAS launches third phase of restructuring
28 április 2003
At a board meeting held on 10 April 2003, the management of Scandinavian
Airlines System (SAS) presented a latest, third set of restructuring measures
aimed at achieving profitability and competitiveness for the airline, which
is based in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (having been founded in 1946 by a
merger of these countries' national air carriers). A new round of cost
reductions worth up to EUR 8 billion will result in 4,000 job losses by 2005
among pilots, cabin crew and ground staff in the three countries, and at the
same time will involve a pay freeze and longer working hours for the
remaining employees (SE0304104N [1]). Most of the trade unions concerned have
already accepted some redundancies and frozen wages. Exact figures have not
yet been published concerning how the redundancies will be spread
geographically or distributed among the various groups of employees.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/sas-announces-4000-redundancies-and-freezes-pay
ILO criticises government over new part-time work legislation
08 április 2003
In February 2002, the coalition government of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and
Conservative People's Party (Konservative Folkeparti) tabled a bill aimed at
making access to part-time work easier (DK0202102N [1]). One of the measures
to achieve this aim was to render void any provisions in collective
agreements which present a direct or indirect obstacle to the right to work
part time, or place a restriction on this right. Such an intervention in
existing collective agreements is highly unusual in Denmark. It is only on
very rare occasions that the government or parliament intervenes in matters
concerning the labour market and industrial relations, and it is usually left
to the social partners to regulate such matters through collective
bargaining. The new part-time work law was adopted in June 2002 (DK0206102N
[2]).
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/opposition-to-government-bill-on-part-time-work
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-act-on-part-time-work-adopted-after-lengthy-debate
TKF and Dansk Metal to merge
31 március 2003
On 13 March 2003, the Union of Telecommunication Workers
(Telekommunikationsforbundet, TKF) announced that a comfortable majority of
its members had voted in a ballot in favour of a merger with the larger Union
of Danish Metalworkers (Dansk Metal). The outcome of the ballot had been
awaited with great anxiety since the leaders of the two unions agreed on the
basis for a merger in October 2002, after thorough preparations. TFK is the
smaller of the two unions and the decision of its members was thus crucial -
it is most unlikely that the members of the larger Dansk Metal would vote
against a merger which would make the union even bigger and if the merger has
been accepted by the members of TKF. The ballot among members of Dansk Metal
will take place in April 2003, but acceptance of the merger thus seems a
formality. In the light of the failure of other attempted union mergers over
the last two years (DK0111102N [1]), the campaign was carefully prepared. TKF
set up a website containing detailed information about the merger, which its
members used extensively for debate and questions.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/merger-between-childcare-workers-unions-abandoned