Jørgensen, Carsten

The national working time accounts – which are the new chief source of data on employment and working time, contained in the national accounts of Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik [1]) – show a rise of 2.6% in actual or performed working time from 2005 to 2006. This percentage covers an overall rise of 1.9% in the number of people employed, corresponding to an increase of just over 50,000 persons; moreover, it reflects a rise of 0.7% in the number of working hours per employed person, corresponding to an additional 12 hours a year, or 20 minutes a week, per employed person. In all of the main sectors in the economy, employment has risen, with the largest increase recorded in the building and construction sector. These are among the findings of a survey published in April 2007 by the Economic Council of the Labour Movement (Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd, AErådet [2]), on the basis of the national working time accounts published by Statistics Denmark. According to AErådet, the figures largely reflect the high flexibility of the Danish labour market. [1] http://www.dst.dk/HomeUK.aspx [2] http://www.aeraadet.dk/

On 27 February 2007, the social partners of the manufacturing sector, namely the Confederation of Danish Industries (Dansk Industri, DI [1]) and the Central Organisation for Industrial Employees’ (CO-industri [2]), signed a new three-year sectoral collective agreement, which affects about 250,000 employees. In keeping with tradition, other sectors of the economy waited to finalise their negotiations, which took place under the umbrella of the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO [3]) and the Confederation of Danish Employers (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA [4]), until the agreement in the manufacturing sector had been signed first. The collective agreement of the manufacturing industry, the so-called Industry Agreement, is a trend-setting agreement for other sectors, and its provisions are more or less identical to those of collective agreements concluded in other minimum-wage sectors covered by LO and DA. [1] http://www.di.dk/ [2] http://co-industri.dk/ [3] http://www.lo.dk/view.asp?ID=1 [4] http://www.da.dk/

The Danish collective bargaining round for 2007 was awaited with a certain degree of anticipation. The positive economic climate prior to the negotiations created expectations of substantial improvements among employees (*DK0612029I* [1]). The first agreement to be signed was the Industry Agreement between the Central Organisation of Industrial Employees (CO-industri [2]) and the Confederation of Danish Industries (Dansk Industri, DI [3]), which took place on 23 February after several disrupted attempts. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/economic-boom-triggers-high-employee-expectations-in-bargaining-round [2] http://www.co-industri.dk/ [3] http://www.di.dk/

The Danish employment rate has reached its highest ever in the spring of 2007. While mass redundancies due to restructuring can be devastating news for the employees affected, a new job creation initiative has succeeded in securing employment for hundreds of workers made redundant. The initiative, which has been coined ‘operation workbusters [1]’, consists of a group of women and men who dedicate their working day to finding jobs and setting up a ‘job bank’. [1] http://www.workbusters.dk

The trade union for employees working in the financial sector in Denmark, the Financial Services’ Union (Finansforbundet [1]), has drawn up a new constitution for good trade union practice; the latter is officially termed ‘union governance’ with reference to the equivalent concept of good management of companies, namely corporate governance [2]. As in the case of corporate governance, union governance introduces a set of specific rules and activities with the aim of ensuring decent and ethically defensible trade union management in Denmark. One of the innovative features of these new measures is a complaints board, where dissatisfied members can have their cases reviewed by an impartial lawyer, that is, a union ombuds officer. [1] http://finansforbundet.dk/ [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/corporate-governance

On 13 December 2006, the Danish government, the municipalities and the social partners in the private labour market concluded an agreement (in Danish, 312Kb PDF) [1] on the integration of immigrants and their families into the active labour market. The talks came about as a result of the political Welfare Agreement from June 2006 and supplement an earlier agreement from 2002 (*DK0206104F* [2]). [1] http://www.bm.dk/graphics/Dokumenter/Presse og nyheder/Pressemeddelelser/2006/4_part/Aftaletekst_4_part.pdf [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-partners-and-government-sign-agreement-on-integration-of-immigrants

After a short workplace meeting on 5 January 2007, around 300 hospital orderlies at the National University Hospital (Rigshospitalet [1]) in Denmark’s capital city, Copenhagen, went on strike. They claim that their right to collective bargaining has been violated because their new employer, the Capital Region (Region Hovedstaden), has chosen to transfer the orderlies to work under a different collective agreement. This change was made after the implementation of the structural reform on 1 January 2007. [1] http://www.rigshospitalet.dk/

The 2007 collective bargaining round got properly under way on Friday, 5 January, when the two sides in the influential industrial sector, the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO [1]) and the Danish Confederation of Employers (Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening, DA [2]), held their first official meeting. As is customary, the Central Organisation of Industrial Employees (CO-industri [3]) – comprising nine trade unions – and the employer Confederation of Danish Industries (Dansk Industri, DI [4]) are expected to reach a compromise in the coming weeks concerning pay and working conditions for the 250,000 employees in about 6,400 industrial enterprises. If they succeed again in reaching an agreement this year, it will have a direct impact on all sectors of the Danish economy covered by LO and DA. In all, these account for about 600,000 employees in the large economic sectors of industry, manufacturing, commerce, services, and building and construction. [1] http://www.lo.dk/ [2] http://www.da.dk/ [3] http://www.co-industri.dk/ [4] http://www.di.dk/

Business is expanding in the temporary agency work [1] sector in Denmark. In 2005, earnings in this sector increased by 35% compared with the preceding year. In 2004, earnings in the temporary work sector amounted to DKK 4.9 billion (€657 million as at 23 January 2007), compared with DDK 6.6 billion (€885 million) in 2005, according to figures published by Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik [2]). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/temporary-agency-work [2] http://www.dst.dk

On 1 January 2007, a new larger employer organisation was formed, following a decision taken at a joint general meeting on 22 November 2006 to merge the business interest association, the Danish Chamber of Commerce (Handel, Transport, Service, HTS-I), and the employer organisation, Danish Commerce and Services (Dansk Handel og Service, DHS). The new player in the Danish industrial relations system is called the Danish Chamber of Commerce (Dansk Erhverv, DE [1]), thus retaining the English name of the former HTS-I. [1] http://www.danskerhverv.com/