The Danish Trade Union Movement, Equality and Diversity for MORE THAN 100 YEARS
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Danish Trade Union Movement, Equality and Diversity FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS Anette Wolthers Cover picture: “An agitator” (also called a “popular speaker”) is painted in 1899 by Erik Henningsen (1855-1930). It is an oil painting and it measures 120 x 180 cm. It was first shown in March-April 1899. The huge conflict that arose later that year known as the “September Compromise” made the work very relevant. The speaker in the painting is very similar to Louis Pio (died in Chicago 1894), so he does not really play a role in the labour move- ment of the 1890’s in Denmark, but is a potent symbol. The School of Metalworkers (Metalskolen) in Jørlunde received the painting as a gift from the Central Society of the Copenhagen Smiths (Centralforeningen for de Københavnske Smede) when the school was founded in 1968. Prior to this, the painting had a colourful history. It was first sold to Germany and later to Italy. Louis Bormholt (several times social democratic minister and author, 1896-1969) bought the painting after a German professor revealed its existence and location. Bomholt sold the painting on to the then union leader of the Danish Smith and Machine Workers Union (Dansk Smede- og Maskinarbejderforbund), Hans Rasmussen (1902-1996). He transferred the picture to the Copenhagen smiths that in turn gave it to the School of Metalworkers (Metalskolen). (Source: Danish Metal Workers’ Union (Dansk Metal). The painting is reproduced with permission from Metalskolen. (In 2002 LO, The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, published the book: “Gender and the Trade Union Move- ment for 100 years” (Køn og fagbevægelse i 100 år) by Anette Wolthers. Some of the chapters from the 2002 book have been reviewed and updated and are integrated in this present publication. You can find the 2002 book here: http://fiu-ligestilling.dk/tools_materials_taxonomy/konsligestilling/page/4/ ) Text: Anette Wolthers Translation from Danish by Oversættergruppen/Tolkegruppen Layout: Andresen Design Danish edition published October 2015 – English edition January 2016 Publisher: FIU-Equality (FIU-Ligestilling) http://fiu-ligestilling.dk - “The Danish Trade Union Movement, Equality and Diversity for more than 100 years” can be downloaded from this website 2 THE DANISH TRADE UNION MOVEMENT, EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS Foreword The background of “The Danish Trade Union Movement, Equality and Diversity for More Than 100 Years” is that the LO Trade Union Movement (The Danish Confeda- ration of Trade Unions – LO) and FIU-Equality (FIU-ligestilling – a partnership of four LO trade unions working with equal opportunities and divisity on behalf of LO) really wanted to present a detailed historic narrative about the long struggle for the rights of female and male wage earners - on the labour market, as citizens in society and as people in their diversity. “The Danish Trade Union Movement, Equality and Diversity for More Than 100 Years” has the following contents: • The Danish Model • The History of The Danish Labour Movement 1870-2015 in 6 chapters • An Appendix that recounts examples of immigration to Denmark through time We hope that this book will help to build an understanding of the trade union movement’s long fight, which led to decent living conditions for the Danish workers. An understanding that the trade unions together with the employers developed the “Danish Model”, which for over 100 years, has granted the possibility of free unionisation and equality in negotiations and discussions among the labour -mar ket’s parties. The “Danish Model” goes beyond the labour market - it has been the driving force in the development of the Danish welfare state and social safety net. There has not been room to acknowledge all the women and men that deserve a place in this history, but some of them have received small biographies here and there. We also recommend that you look in other books and sources for informa- tion about this long and fascinating story. But here is an introduction. FIU-Equality - (FIU-Ligestilling) January 2016 THE DANISH TRADE UNION MOVEMENT, EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS 3 Contents page • The Danish Model 07 Institutions and Agreements that Support the Danish Model 15 Preconditions for the Danish Model to be Able to Continue 18 The Nordic Model 21 Challenges to the Danish and Nordic Model 24 Literature 25 Notes 26 • The Early Labour Movement 1871-1900 29 Trade Unions and the First International 30 The Workers Continue to Organise 31 The Women 33 The Weavers 35 The Tobacco Workers 36 The Men’s Tailors 37 The Seamstresses 38 The National Union of Women Workers 38 The Trade Union Struggle 1875-1900 39 The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) is formed 40 Policy on Gender 43 Immigration 47 A Test of Strengtht Between the Classes in 1899 48 Literature 50 Notes 51 • The Labour Movement 1900-1930 54 Women’s Opportunities and Rights 55 Occupation in Town and Countryside 56 Assistance for the Poor and Relief Funds 58 Unions for Maids, Rural Workers and Domestic Servants 59 Skilled, Unskilled and Parliamentary Work 63 The First World War and its Aftermath 67 Women and Men in Industry 69 Organisation 73 4 THE DANISH TRADE UNION MOVEMENT, EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS The Fight against Poverty and Unemployment 74 Family and Housing 74 Home and Children 76 Immigration 77 Legislation on Women 78 The Self Image of Working Women 79 Colleagues in the Trade Union Movement 81 Ideas of Liberation 81 Workers’ Enlightenment 83 Literature 85 Notes 86 • The Labour Movement 1930-1950 87 The 1930’s 88 The Women 89 Antifeminism in 1920’s and 1930’s 91 The Second World War 93 Women during and after the War 96 The Rebuilding of Industry 97 Equality? 98 Literature 99 Notes 100 • The Labour Movement 1950-1971 101 The Labour Force 102 Women and Men and their Jobs 105 Education and Work Opportunities for Young Women 106 Paid Work for Housewives 107 The Code of Practice for the Married Women’s Paid Work 110 The Political Way Forward 112 The Trade Union Movement 115 Immigration 1950-1970 115 Literature 116 Notes 117 THE DANISH TRADE UNION MOVEMENT, EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS 5 • The Labour Movement 1971-2000 118 Equal Pay 119 The New Women’s Movement 120 Contraception and Free Abortion 120 Childcare 127 Maternity Leave and Childcare Leave 127 The Work Force Continues to Grow 127 Immigration 129 The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, LO 129 Literature 134 Notes 135 • The Labour Movement 2000-2015 136 The Financial Crisis 137 Women’s Work for a ’Man’s Wage’ 138 The The Public efforts for Equality 139 The Labour Market 140 The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, LO 141 Education 145 Immigration 146 Danish Diversity and the Labour Movement 148 Literature 155 Notes 156 • Appendix: A Brief History on Danish Immigration 158 Invited by the King 1500-1800 159 Model Invited by the Employers 1800-2000 163 Refugees 166 Literature 171 Notes 171 6 THE DANISH TRADE UNION MOVEMENT, EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS The Danish Model The Danish Model is a social model where there is an organised interplay between the different institutions and forces in society. The model has existed for more than 100 years, with the development and changes that have been necessary during this time. Its task has been to create private and social results through agreed processes between participants and decision makers. Figure 1: The Danish Model The State – The Government The Minister of Finance (who is also the employer of the ements Triparti t agre employees of the public sector) e ag te ree rti me ipa n Tr ts The organised The organisered employers employees Collective agreements on wages and working conditions (Anette Wolthers 2015) Society – living conditions: Laws, administered by the municipalities, regions, authorities and institutions, companies, workplaces, associations, parties, citizens - families Elements of the Danish Model The Danish Model’s key elements are: • The Danish workers and employees have a right to organise themselves into unions in order to defend and work toward their interests. This is also true for Danish employers. • The organised parties (DA – Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening/ The Confederation of Danish Employers and LO – Landsorganisationen/The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions) in the private sector have made an overriding agreement, the Main Agreement (Hovedaftalen), which is also called the ‘Constitution of the Danish labour market’. This agreement describes all fundamental processes they have chosen to follow and the ‘institutions’ that they have chosen to use. 8 THE DANISH MODEL • The organised parties have also formulated an agreement to ensure that the daily co-operation in the business and workplaces where a collective agreement is in place runs as smoothly as possible. This agreement specifies the duties and behaviour that lead to the most productive co-operation between management and employees, despite differing interests and positions. • The organised parties, the workers and the employers can negotiate freely with each other and agree on wages and working conditions, which each has a respon- sibility to uphold. • The employers have a right to ‘hire and fire’. This means that they employ and dismiss workers as needed and in accordance with the agreed rules. • The employers have the right to manage their own business, but they have, to- gether with the unionised workers built a far-reaching system of co-operation. In this system, trade union representatives (tillidsrepræsentanter - shop stewards) and working environment representatives (arbejdsmiljørepræsentanter), who are voted in by the workers and accepted by the management, play a big part. • The trade union representative system is an established part of the Danish Model.