Start of the Danish collective bargaining round in the manufacturing industry

Today on the 6th of January, the chief negotiator and president of CO-industri, Thorkild E. Jensen met with his counterpart of the Confederation of Danish Industry at a press conference in order to officially launch the negotiations on a renewal of the collective bargaining agreements in the manufacturing industry.

The primary demand from CO-industry is a continued positive development of the real wage. Other demands include improvement of social clauses, such as improved pay during sick leave and improved conditions for persons on maternity leave and improved conditions for shift workers and apprentices.

Equal pay is also on the agenda for the bargaining round, as is a special rule for clerical employees, which at the moment, prevents them from using the collective agreement for the manufacturing industry unless 50% of the clerical employees in the company are members of HK, the union for commercial and clerical employees.

The second common European demand agreed upon recently in the European Metalworkers Federation “For more secure employment, against precarious work” will also be on the list of demands of the negotiators in the form of increased investment in the education and training of the workers and an implementation of the temporary agency workers directive.

The collective bargaining round directly affects 240.000 workers in the manufacturing industry and indirectly affects an additional 350.000 workers in the private sector as the agreement in the manufacturing industry is used as a blueprint for their negotiations.

CO-industri and the Confederation of Danish Industry have agreed to try to reach an agreement before the 12th of February. This agreement will, together with the other private sector agreements, be put up for a vote among the members. It is expected that the result of this ballot will be known around the end of April.

René H. V. Johansen

CO-industri