Orientering
Nordic Meeting - 18.-20. August 2011
August 8th 2011
Labour Market
A. How has the Union behavior changed during the new millennium?
The old and established unions in Denmark have in recent years been losing many members and
are for that reason under a substantial pressure for making rationalizations in their set up.
The loss is mainly due to the fact that the working force is better educated thus being organized in
unions outside LO (Danish Confederation of Trade unions) and also due to the fact that they are
must more expensive than the alternative unions/unemployment funds.
However it has not lead to considerably changes in the collective agreements in Denmark and is
not expected to do so either. They unions – one of which our main counterpart HK (union of
commercial and clerical employees) - are trying to introduce that some of the benefits in the general collective agreements should only apply for union members. That has until now been successfully turned down by the employer side.
In the last negotiations HK where very keen of introducing a right for the individual employee to
have a yearly wage talk with his employer. However they were not successful in obtaining that.
The individual employee has a right to a yearly evaluation but the employers are not forced to
have a yearly wage talk or negotiation with the employee although many employers actually do so.
In general you could argue that the unions in the new millennium have had a tendency towards
focusing more on individual rights than collective rights.
B. Do we know their strategies and action plans?
The collective agreements are going to be renewed in the spring of 2012. The unions will of course
be focusing on the general salary/expense increase. However it is expected that it will be possible
to obtain a – from an employer’s view - responsible development in the salary increase.
Beside the salary issue – we expect the following issues (among others) to be central for the upcoming negotiations:
1) All the Danish Chamber of Commerce collective agreements with HK have a so called “50
percent rule.” The rule has the effect that HK is only entitled to have the collective agree-
LHO
Side 1/3
Sagsnr.: SAG-2011-02167
ment brought in force regarding companies that are members of Danish Chamber of
Commerce if HK have at least 50 percent of the workforce covered by the agreement as
members. The rule has the effect that many of our member companies are “protected”
against being covered by collective agreement. It is a high priority for HK to have the rule
changed – in order to have all companies covered by agreement.
2) Social dumping/foreign workforce. The use of foreign workforce has been a hot political
issue during the last 10 years. It has also been on the agenda in the last renewal of the collective agreements and is expected to be so again in the 2012 negotiations – although
more so for the unskilled workers union than for the HK (union of commercial and clerical employees). We expect that they will have a “job security agenda” demanding further
notice period and more severance pay. In Denmark we have a relative flexible workforce
and we will argue that it is vital for having growth (easy to fire is easy to hire).
3) We also expect the question of working hours, part-time jobs and rules for planning working hours to be on the union’s agenda (see further below – question F).
C. How deeply do they coordinate initiatives on Nordic level?
It is our impression that there is considerable coordination between the Nordic unions regarding
issues and negotiations within ETUC. It does not seem to be the case regarding the collective negotiations – at least HK in Denmark does not refer to agreements made in other Nordic countries.
In Denmark there is a detailed co-ordination of the collective bargaining between the unions in
LO – that is (more than) matched by the coordination on the employer’s side (see further under
Question E). One of the big issues in the 2012 bargaining will be how successful HK will be in getting the other unions to support their claims on the so called “50 percent rule”.
D. The salary policy and strategies
In some of the general agreements at the wholesale sector (unskilled Wharehousemen/transportation) nothing or almost nothing is left for decentralized negotiations. Wages, pensions, and other ad-ons are central set.
On a central level however most agreements only set minimum wages and the level for pensions
and a few other ad-ones. The rest are set at local level. Especially in some agreements in the industrial branches the locally agreed raise are set for all employees in the firm. In most other
agreements the locally agreed raise are set on an individual basis for each employee. That is the
case in the retail sector and also the whole sector covered by HK general agreements.
The agreement for employees in retail determines minimum wages and ad-on. Locally the firms
have to made local negotiations about the wage for each employee on an individual basis. The table shows the increases set on central and local levels in retail:
2010
2011
Pct. increase
Pct. increase
Central general raise
1,02
1,62
Locally raise
2,28
0,38
Side 2/3
Total
3,30
2,00(estimated)
E. What is the benchmark industry if any?
None of the Danish Chamber of Commerce general agreements benchmarks to inflation rate or
mutually agreed economic situation and forecasts.
However the negotiations of the collective agreements in the private sector in Denmark is strictly
co-ordinated and agreed upon between the member employers organizations in DA (The Confederation of Danish Employers). The agreements have the same expire dates. In the system agreed
upon between the employers the exporting branches are the first to negotiate and by that setting
the level/framework for the total salary/expenses increase on the labour market.
The Danish Chamber of Commerce further more offers the members statistic in level of wages for
different branches and for different jobs. We also offers statistic showing the increases in wages
plus ad-ons for different branches and different jobs. Also we offer benchmarking to some specific
businesses against inflation and forecasts.
F. “Rätt till Heltid”
The legal frame for part-time work is set by the implementation of the directive implemented in
Danish law and agreements.
The Danish Chamber of Commerce collective agreements do not stipulate a right to full time. In
general we want the labour force to work more – but will not accept a right for the individual to
full time. That will among other issues result in flexibility problems.
The socialist parties in Denmark want that employees have to work more, instead of making labour market reforms. The normal fulltime working hours in Denmark are only 37 hours per week
(and in many public sector jobs only 34½ efficient working hours). Especially in the public sector
there are some barriers for many employees who want to work in fulltime. If the socialists win the
election in autumn, they will invite the unions and employer organization to negotiations together
with the new government to discuss in witch way it is possible to make employees working more.
The employer organizations have all stated that it is not necessary to make negotiations about this
question. If there is a wish for working more we can make an agreement about the issue. But we
do not want to make an agreement after witch everybody have the right for a full time job. The individual employees and the companies know best witch solution is the best in the given situation.
There is however a risk that a new government through legislation in some situations would give
part-timers right to fulltime.
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