Jørgensen, Carsten

Telecommunications companies, and especially those that are mainly engaged in mobile telephony, are in the midst of a serious crisis in Denmark. In early November 2002, a confidential report from the new top management of the Danish division of Orange, the French-owned mobile telephone company, was leaked to the press. The report recommended large-scale redundancies in connection with a major restructuring process. This leak immediately led to the dismissals of some of the employees who had received the report. Shortly afterwards, management publicly stated that 400 out of 1,000 employees would be made redundant as part of a major economic restructuring process. The employees were informed at a number of meetings, and Orange has taken the initiative to launch negotiations over the job losses with employee representatives, and has informed the Confederation of Danish Industries (Dansk Industri, DI).

Since the summer of 2002, three trade unions affiliated to the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) have been discussing a merger which – if implemented – will create the largest union in Denmark with about 470,000 members. The current largest union, the Union of Commercial and Clerical Workers in Denmark (Handels- og kontorforbundet, HK), has 370,000 members.

In mid-October 2002, the bargaining parties in the industry sector - the Central Organisation of Industrial Employees in Denmark (Centralorganisationen af Industriansatte, CO-industri) trade union cartel and the Confederation of Danish Industries (Dansk Industri, DI) - presented an agreement they had reached on the introduction of a new pay system for employees in Danish industrial enterprises, known as 'Plus-pay' (Plusløn). The majority of workers in the sector are members of the Danish Union of Metalworkers (Dansk Metal).

In late September 2002, the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) and the Danish Employers’ Confederation (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA) presented a joint paper [1] to the Danish representation on the European Union Convention [2]- the body charged with preparing for the next Intergovernmental Conference, by proposing a new framework and structures for the EU, notably in the light of enlargement (EU0201231N [3]). The joint DA-LO paper includes proposals on social dialogue in the future European labour market. [1] http://www.lo.dk/smmedia/EuropasFremtid.PDF?mb_GUID=B574AFE0-1CF2-487C-AD65-5C4065E0C3B6.PDF [2] http://european-convention.eu.int/ [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/laeken-council-endorses-employment-strategy-and-prepares-for-further-treaty-reform

When the minority coalition government of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and Conservative People's Party (Konservative Folkeparti) came to office in November 2001 (DK0112147F [1]), the new Minister for Employment, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, announced that he would fight against bureaucracy wherever it constituted an obstacle to flexible solutions on the labour market. One of the first steps in this direction was to bring together employment measures, including measures in relation to unemployed people, under a single new Ministry of Employment. Previously, measures to bring more people into employment had been divided between two ministries, the Ministry of Social Affairs – which was responsible for measures in relation to people who were not insured against unemployment - and the former Ministry of Labour - which was responsible for measures in relation to insured unemployed people. Non-insured unemployed people receive social assistance, while insured persons receive unemployment benefits through an unemployment insurance fund. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/new-government-challenges-trade-union-movement

On 20 September 2002, the executive committee of the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) proposed a historic reform of the organisation. Just one week earlier, LO had announced that the confederation would end its financial support to the Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokratiet). This will mean the end of political 'marriage' which has lasted for more than a century between the party and the trade union movement. The first step towards separation was taken in 1995 when the two organisations decided no longer to be represented in one another's executive committees, thus bringing an end to their formal ties.

In March 2002, the Employers' Association of the Meat Industry (Slagteriernes Arbejdsgiverforening, SA) - which includes one of the three largest companies in Denmark, Danish Crown- decided to leave the Confederation of Employers' Associations in Agriculture (Sammenslutningen af arbejdsgivere i landbruget, SALA) with effect from 1 October 2002. In August 2002, the SA leadership decided to apply for membership of the Confederation of Danish Industries (Dansk Industri, DI). Acceptance of the application should be a formality. SA's membership of DI will mark a definitive break with the tradition of the agricultural sector having its own employers' associations (DK9707119N [1]). Membership of DI automatically means membership of the Danish Employers' Confederation (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA) - indeed, DA membership was one of SA's motives in resigning from SALA. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/food-and-agriculture-employers-confederation-celebrates-50th-anniversary

In October 2001, the Danish subsidiary of the US-based software company Oracle introduced a new flexible pay system that gives employees freedom of choice - as long as the relevant legislation is complied with - with regard to the distribution of their package of wages, benefits, holidays and pension contributions. Instead of receiving a fixed amount of pay, benefits, pension contribution and holiday entitlement, employees can now mix these elements according to their personal wishes, as long as the total sum does not exceed the maximum wage to which they are entitled. An employee at Oracle can, for example, choose to have an occupational pension contribution of 5% of pay rather then the normal 8%, and receive the difference as a monthly pay increase. They may also choose to have larger contributions to private health insurance, or increase their annual leave above the legally defined five weeks. If an employee is entitled to a company car and decides to have a small car rather than a larger one, the difference in the normal monthly costs is paid out as a supplement to the monthly salary. Oracle is not a member of an employers’ organisation and its 350 employees are not covered by a collective agreement.

The programme of the coalition government of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and Conservative People's Party (Konservative Folkeparti), which came to office in November 2001, included the right to free choice of trade union membership, including the right not to be a member of a union, as part of a 'freedom package' (DK0112147F [1]). Proposed legislation to prohibit closed-shop agreements [2] (DK9907137N [3] and DK9802153F [4]), stipulating membership of a certain union as a requirement for employment, has thus been awaited since. However, there have been delays as, following some unexpected setbacks for other elements of the government's 'freedom package' (DK0206102N [5]), the Minister for Employment wished to be better prepared this time. The entire 'freedom package', based on the concept of personal choice, is widely considered to be a challenge to the trade union movement, albeit not in the most vital areas. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/new-government-challenges-trade-union-movement [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/efemiredictionary/closed-shop-clause [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/supreme-court-rules-in-favour-of-closed-shop-agreements [4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/the-practice-of-closed-shop-agreements-under-pressure [5] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/new-act-on-part-time-work-adopted-after-lengthy-debate

There has been a warm reception among the Danish social partners for the EU-level framework agreement on telework [1] signed on 16 July 2002 (EU0207204F [2]) by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff (EUROCADRES)/European Confederation of Executives and Managerial Staff (CEC) liaison committee, theUnion of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE)/the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (UEAPME) and the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP). The agreement, which deals with various aspects of the employment conditions of teleworkers, is to be implemented by the members of the signatory parties 'in accordance with the national procedures and practices specific to management and labour'. This is in contrast with previous agreements reached by the EU-level intersectoral social partners over issues on which the European Commission has consulted them - parental leave [3], part-time work [4] (EU9706131F [5]) and fixed-term work [6] (EU9901147F [7]) - which were implemented through EU Directives. [1] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/news/2002/jul/telework_en.pdf [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-partners-sign-teleworking-accord [3] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-dial/social/euro_agr/data/en/951214.htm [4] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-dial/social/euro_agr/data/en/970606.htm [5] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/social-partners-reach-framework-agreement-on-part-time-work [6] http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-dial/social/euro_agr/data/en/990318.htm [7] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-working-conditions/social-partners-reach-draft-framework-agreement-on-fixed-term-contracts