The Danish tradition of the Social Democratic party supporting the union and vice versa is close to coming to an end. 13 out of 17 LO unions (the LO is the country’s main union confederation) have decided to halt direct support for the Social Democrats and other leftwing parties. Their main reasons are frustration with the Social-Democratic government’s policies and a desire for independence that would see support being given on a case-by-case basis in line with the issues that concern the unions.
This is groundbreaking: the political left (including the Social Democratic party, the Socialist party and the List of the United Left) can no longer depend on the direct support from most of the unions making up the LO in front of elections in 2015. According to a study by Ugebrevet A4 an LO publication, 13 out of the 17 federations have openly decided to halt direct political party support.
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