Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Denmark (Ratification: 1951)

In several previous direct requests, the Committee requested the Government to keep it informed of the progress made to ensure that all teachers, regardless of their classification as public servants, may exercise strike action without penalty. The Committee notes that the Government indicates in its report that there are 61,500 teachers, of whom 22,500 are civil servants. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that civil servants in Denmark have favourable conditions of employment as compensation in lieu of the right to strike and that, furthermore, a teacher has the possibility to give up being a civil servant and choose the form of employment which includes the right to strike.  The Committee recalls that it has always considered that the right to strike is one of the essential means available to workers and their organizations for the promotion and protection of their economic and social interests. While accepting that the right to strike may be restricted or even prohibited in the public service, the Committee has clearly established that such a limitation may be applied only in the case of public servants exercising authority in the name of the State. In the Committee’s view teachers are not included in this category and should therefore have the right to strike, although the maintenance of a minimum service may be foreseen in the event of strikes in this sector. In these circumstances, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures so that teachers who have chosen to keep their status as public employees may have recourse to strike action without the risk of being sanctioned.

Additionally, the Committee had requested the Government to specify the categories of employee considered to be exercising authority in the name of the State, and to whom the status of public servant will henceforth apply, along with the restrictions concerning strike action. The Committee takes due note that the Government indicates that the categories of employee considered to exercise authority in the name of the State, and to whom the status of public servant will henceforth apply, include higher government officials, deputy judges, deputy public prosecutors, judge advocates, employees in the police corps, prison officers, governors of prisons, army personnel, officers in the civil defence forces, and inspectors.

In several of its previous comments, the Committee noted the introduction of a new structure of collective negotiations and agreements in the financial sector which enables the social partners concerned to depart from the agreements negotiated at the central level and conclude an agreement applicable to the company and invited the Government to engage in discussions with the most representative organizations of workers and employers with a view to overcoming the existing limitations to the right to strike in the abovementioned context and to keep it informed in this respect. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that the social partners agreed to introduce a new structure for bargaining and collective agreements with regard to the financial sector, which requires mediation and arbitration if a negotiated solution is not found or if a negotiation result is voted down. The Committee requests the Government to communicate in its next report a copy of the new provisions that have been established.