CNV

Every fifth employee in the Danish labour market is under pressure to be member of a specific trade union. In 2006 Kristelig Fagbevægelse won a clear-cut victory over the Danish closed shop agreements in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The closed shop agreements meant that an employment could be made conditional on the membership of a specific trade union.

Before the closed shop agreements were prohibited in 2006 19 percent in the Danish labour market experienced a pressure to be member of a specific trade union. Today 21 percent experience this pressure (equivalent to almost half a million persons) - as revealed in a survey made by the opinion-research institute MEGAFON.

The Danish Government immediately followed the judgment from the European Court of Human Rights and prohibited the closed shop agreements by law. This means that it is illegal to let the membership or non-membership of a specific trade union be of any importance when an employer hires or dismisses people.

Already at that time did Kristelig Fagbevægelse point out a lack in the law because trade union pressure in everyday life was not prohibited. Therefore Kristelig Fagbevægelse suggested a prohibition on discrimination based on the election of trade union, - just as the already existing prohibition on discrimination based on sex, race, faith, sexual orientation etc.

The current survey proves that a prohibition on discrimination based on the election of trade union could be a good idea. We have contacted the Government and several politicians in the Folketinget to call attention to the need to do something in order to prevent trade union pressure in the Danish labour market, - says Mr. Søren Fibiger Olesen, the president of Kristelig Fagbevægelse.

The Danish Minister for Employment, mr. Claus Hjort Frederiksen, is positive to the proposal from Kristelig Fagbevægelse. On the 22nd of January he says to Jyllands-Posten, Denmark's largest newspaper: "It is essential that nobody is pressed on the livelihood to become a member of a specific trade union. It has been our struggle for many years and we cannot accept that the pressure can be introduced again through the back door - by means of harassment.

Source: Kristelig Fagbevægelse