Denmark: construction, packaging and textile industries renew collective agreements

An agreement dividing the social partners was signed on March 1 to renew the collective agreements in the construction sector, so much so that they called separate press conferences to reveal the contents.  The leader of 3F’s construction union, Peter Hougård Nielsen, explained that employees rejected everything unions proposed against social dumping, notably third-party liability (tredjepartsforpligtelse) imposing the obligation to only appeal to subcontractors complying with collective agreements.  He explained that, in spite of it all, the union signed the agreement to avoid a conflict “with such a bad economic situation in construction.”  Saying that this agreement is the “best possible” in this context, he repeated that unions’ fight against social dumping “isn’t over.”  For his part, Lars Storr Hansen, leader of the Dansk Byggeri employers’ organization rejoiced that it was able to “avoid 3F’s key claims on foreign workers.”  However, this strategy doesn’t have universal support within the employers’ organization, where SMEs also called for more effective actions against social dumping, which is also affecting their business. 
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ssible” in this context, he repeated that unions’ fight against social dumping “isn’t over.” For his part, Lars Storr Hansen, leader of the Dansk Byggeri employers’ organization rejoiced that it was able to “avoid 3F’s key claims on foreign workers.” However, this strategy doesn’t have universal support within the employers’ organization, where SMEs also called for more effective actions against social dumping, which is also affecting their business.

The “price of defeat.” Flemming Ibsen, re

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