Jørgensen, Carsten
Negotiations on flexi-jobs and early retirement deadlocked
27 december 2000
Ambitious quadripartite negotiations on the "inclusive labour market" were
scheduled to start in early October 2000, involving the government, local
authorities and the social partners - the Confederation of Danish Trade
Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) and the Danish Employers'
Confederation (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA). The aim was to increase
employment, mainly by supporting groups with a reduced capacity to work, such
as long-term unemployed people, some groups of people with disabilities and
those on long-term sick leave. This was to be achieved by means of
state-subsidised jobs with special conditions, including "flexi-jobs"
(DK9906130N [1]). Surprisingly, the negotiations were postponed with
reference to the ongoing negotiations concerning the 2001 state finance Act.
However, this turned out not to be the full truth - in reality, the
negotiations had become deadlocked and, in spite of several attempts to
relaunch them, no progress has since been made.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/government-target-of-40000-flexi-jobs-almost-achieved
Legislation to make gender wage differences more visible
27 december 2000
In a study carried out in spring 2000, the Danish National Institute for
Social Research (Socialforskningsinstituttet, SFI) found that there is still
a wage gap of about 16%-17% between men and women (DK0006182F [1]).The study
concluded that only a small part of this wage gap is attributable to factors
such as education/training, seniority or family status, with the remainder
unaccounted for.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-social-policies/danish-women-still-a-long-way-from-equal-pay
2000 Annual Review for Denmark
27 december 2000
No significant national, regional or local elections were held in 2000 in
Denmark. The present ruling coalition, composed of the Social Democratic
Party (Socialdemokratiet) and the Social Liberal Party (Det Radikale
Venstre), has formed the government for nine years and is now widely deemed
to be suffering from general fatigue. Following controversy over the reform
of the voluntary early retirement scheme in 1998 (DK9812197F [1]), Prime
Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen suffered a serious loss of credibility which he
has found difficult to restore, and the result of the referendum on joining
the European single currency (see below) signalled a further weakening of his
position. In December 2000 there was a government reshuffle of certain
ministerial posts following the decision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Niels Helveg Petersen, to resign after the Nice European Council and the
appointment of the Minister for Defence, Hans Hækkerup, to the post of chief
for UN activities in Kosovo. The Minister for Foreign Affairs found that he
could no longer credibly administer Denmark's EU policy after the voters had
rejected the single currency.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-policies-undefined/new-early-retirement-rules-cause-controversy
New working time rules agreed for telework
27 november 2000
An agreement concluded on 31 October 2000 between the Danish Commerce and
Service (Dansk Handel & Service, DHS) employers' organisation and the Union
of Commercial and Clerical Employees in Denmark (Handels- og
Kontorfunktionærernes Forbund/Service, HK/Service) provides that the
"11-hour rule" on rest periods will no longer have to be observed by those of
the 95,000 members of HK/Service who work at home. It has thus been made
easier for employees in commerce and services to perform their work at home
and to telework.
Collective bargaining coverage increases
27 november 2000
More than four out of five Danish employees are now covered by a collective
agreement, according to a major questionnaire-based study undertaken by the
Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO), in
cooperation with the National Institute for Social Research
(Socialforskningsinstituttet, SFI) and a labour market researcher from the
Copenhagen School of Business Administration (Handelshøjskolen i
København), Steen Scheuer ("Employment and organisational structures" 2000
[Ansættelses og organisationsforhold 2000], LO, November 2000 [1]).
[1] http://130.227.50.108/mediafiles/newdoc/PDFS/6/ansµtt-orgforhold2000.pdf
Denmark votes no to the euro
27 október 2000
As part of the difficulties surrounding acceptance of the Maastricht Treaty
on European Union in 1992-3, Denmark negotiated an opt-out from participation
in the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the introduction
of the euro single currency from 1 January 1999 (DK0004175F [1]). A
referendum on reversing this opt-out was held on 28 September 2000, and
resulted in a narrow, but still comfortable majority for continued
non-participation in the euro-zone. As in earlier referenda concerning the
EU, the turnout was high, at 88.1%, and 53.2% voted "no" and 46.8% "yes" to
joining the euro.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-industrial-relations/unions-and-employers-organisations-both-recommend-a-danish-yes-to-emu
Wage increases fall despite low unemployment
27 szeptember 2000
New wage figures for the second quarter of 2000, presented by the Danish
Employers' Confederation (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA) on 14 August 2000,
reveal that the rate of wage increases is falling in spite of a historically
low level of unemployment and a strong growth in exports (according to an
economic forecast published at the same time by the Confederation of Danish
Industries (Dansk Industri, DI)). On average, wages increased by 3.4% from
the second quarter of 1999 to the second quarter of 2000 in the sectors
covered by agreements between organisations affiliated to the DA and the
Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO). The
figures were welcomed by economists and business groups .
Concern over education and training choices
27 augusztus 2000
In spite of the falling number of young people - in 2000, there are about
15,000 fewer 20-year-olds in Denmark than five years previously - it has
generally been possible to maintain the high level of applications for
admission to higher education. According to a preliminary survey of
applicants to higher education based on figures from the Ministry of
Education, published on 12 July, in 2000 nearly 62,000 applicants have
applied for admission to a continued education programme, about 2,000 more
than in 1999. This high figure is notably the result of 15 new vocational
education programmes, which have attracted 9,327 applicants. The interest in
these new short, vocationally-oriented programmes which may, for instance,
lead to jobs in laboratory work, banks and information technology, has led to
an increase in applicants of more than 3,000 over the past year.
Professional associations' journals launch campaign against xenophobia
27 július 2000
An exceptional campaign to oppose discrimination against foreigners on the
Danish labour market has been launched by 13 journals of professional
associations - such as those representing engineers, lecturers,
psychologists, economists and pharmacists - with a total of 183,393
subscribers. Very symbolically, the campaign was launched on 5 June 2000,
Danish Constitution Day: 151 years ago, Denmark's first Constitution
established a number of democratic rights to be enjoyed by all Danish
citizens.
Care services in private hands as local authorities increase use of outsourcing
27 július 2000
Outsourcing, or contracting-out, of tasks to private enterprises has been
expanding rapidly among local authorities and this development will gain
increasing momentum, according to a new study [1] carried out by the
municipal sector employers' organisation, the National Association of Local
Authorities (Kommunernes Landsforening, KL) concerning the scope of tendering
and outsourcing activities in local authorities. The report was published in
June 2000.
[1] http://www.kl.dk/kl.net?sidenr=208196