Food and agriculture employers' confederation celebrates 50th anniversary

In 1997, the Danish Confederation of Employers' Associations in Agriculture (SALA) is celebrating its 50th anniversary as an independent employers' confederation.

SALA is the main employers' confederation in the Danish agricultural sector and food industry, representing six employers' organisations and covering a total of 2,000 agricultural enterprises, employing approximately 20,000 workers, with 65 enterprises in the processing industry employing 31,000 workers.

SALA is an independent employers' confederation with a separate basic agreement (Hovedaftale) with the LO trade union confederation. Its main task is to represent the interest of its member associations in legislative matters and to undertake collective bargaining with the LO and its affiliated unions.

The Danish Employers' Confederation (DA) has on several occasions invited SALA to become a member of DA, thereby uniting almost all employers in the private sector. Although each invitation has been carefully considered, it has never been accepted. Beyond the different areas of representation, two clear and principal differences exist between SALA and the DA: whereas many agreements in the the private sector are now becoming increasingly decentralised, SALA affiliates still operate centralised basic pay agreements; and whereas DA is empowered to approve or reject any collective agreement made by its affiliates, SALA has no such authority.

For SALA the 1997 collective bargaining round was an important mark of its independence, because it took a distinctly different line from that of the DA in its negotiating strategy. It did not follow the DA strategy of opting for three-year collective agreements but instead followed the long-standing tradition of two-year deals (DK9705110F).