Collective agreements for 850,000 private sector employees have been adopted

850,000 private sector employees have received a new three-year collective agreement after a proposal for a collective agreement was voted through. The Conciliation Institution announced this on its website on Wednesday afternoon. Almost 60 percent of employees eligible to vote cast their votes, and 82.5 percent of them voted "yes". The Danish Trade Union Confederation (FH) is satisfied with this result.

- In an uncertain time with news about Trump's tariffs and Danish armaments, it is reassuring that employees support the improved pay and working conditions for the next three years. Thank you for that, says Morten Skov Christiansen, chairman of FH, in a press release.

On the employer side, the proposal was adopted with 100 percent "yes" votes. The Danish Employers' Association (DA) agrees and emphasizes the importance of the result coming at a time of global unrest.

- It is absolutely crucial for both Danish business and employees in the uncertain world that we have at this time with both war in Europe and great uncertainty about international trade, says DA's CEO, Jacob Holbraad.

The collective bargaining negotiations were launched in earnest with the industry's parties, CO-Industri and the Confederation of Danish Industry, just after the New Year. On February 9, they were able to sign an agreement together. The settlement in the industry area is normally considered a breakthrough settlement that will form a school for the other negotiations.

In March, FH and the Danish Employers' Association (DA) agreed on a joint mediation outline. After the meeting in March, conciliator Jan Reckendorff wrote a final mediation proposal, which was sent to a vote among the members. All collective agreements have been voted on together, and because it ended with a "yes", the new three-year collective agreements will enter into force retroactively from March 1, 2025.

jel /ritzau/