On February 9, Co-Indistri for unions and Dansk Industri for employers reached an agreement renewing the manufacturing collective agreement. It is made up of 2 chapters: one for skilled/unskilled workers, the other for technical and administrative staff. In addition to the wage increase, key novelties include better training rights, more transparency when appealing to temporary workers, and enhanced parental leaves – including extending rights to same-sex parents. This agreement – traditionally the first one to be signed, which sets the tone for other collective agreements being negotiated – covers about 240,000 workers in nearly 6,000 businesses. Unlike the previous “crisis” renewals, signed for 2 years only, this deal will last for 3 years, between March 1, 2014 and March 1, 2017.
Further training rights. One of the most welcome results of this agreement is the fact that training rights are improved, which was a priority claim for unions (see article No. 8075). First, seniority to access training funds with the Funds for the Development of Manufacturing Skills (Industriens Kompetenceudviklingsfond, IKUF) goes from 9 down to 6 months. Employees laid off on economic grounds with at least 14 days’ notice are entitled, during the period, to 2 paid training hours to go see the union or unemployment insurance fund to get guidance on available training to quickly find a new job.
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