Documents Refslund, Bjarke 14 results

"Labour clauses in public procurement, which require contractors to provide their employees with a certain minimum level of wages and working conditions, have garnered increased political and scholarly attention in recent years. However, much of the discussion has centred on legal provisions, with less consideration given to the intricacy of how these clauses are implemented and integrated within existing wage-setting systems. This article focuses on the implementation and enforcement of labour clauses and their interaction with collective bargaining systems in two countries, Denmark and Germany, which continue to rely relatively strongly on collective agreements. Drawing on four case studies, we explore the challenges that arise from the implementation of labour clauses, such as tensions between economic and social policy objectives and between state regulation and collective agreements. These cases underscore the importance of learning processes among public authorities and social partners in trying to address these tensions and ensuring decent working conditions in publicly procured work."

"While the impact of new technology on work is vast, our knowledge remains somewhat fragmented, particularly from a workers' perspective. This article applies job quality as a multi-dimensional approach to contribute to deepening our understanding of the effect new technology has for public sector workers in Denmark. Job quality is a multi-dimensional concept, and the technological development has a different impact on the various dimensions leading to somewhat mixed results. Despite studying different occupations, the impact on some dimensions was clearer: the results show how worker autonomy is challenged by new technology, the physical work environment is improved, and levels of workload, stress, and job intensity are being more negatively affected. Overall, new technology is improving some dimensions of job quality, worsening others, and yet other dimensions remain less affected, contributing to the overall complexity. However, there is a subjective dimension, with the same technology having varying impact on workers."

This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"Germany and Denmark are among the world's largest exporters of meat products. Two decades ago their labour markets were similar, but since then they have diverged significantly. The industry in Denmark has maintained high wages and good working conditions, while in Germany there has been a rapid growth in precarious employment, with widespread use of subcontracted and posted migrant workers. We argue that the key explanation for this radical difference is the power position of the trade unions, which also affects how employers position themselves. We show how trade union power embedded in the local and sectoral industrial relations systems influences the wages and working conditions in German and Danish slaughterhouses."

"Eastern and Central European labour migration following the EU enlargement has significant impact on the Nordic labour markets. This article demonstrates, through sector-based case studies in Denmark, how labour migration influences working condition and wages in two sectors that have so far only been sparsely studied: the agriculture and cleaning industries. The high inflow of labour migrants is used by some employers to bypass and undermine the institutionalized class compromise, by employing EU8/2-workers at lower wages and often without collective agreements coverage frequently combined with below average working conditions. This put strains on the Danish agreement-based model of industrial relations, potentially leading to a more segmented labour market as well as replacement of native, mainly low-skilled workers with EU8/2-workers. "

"Increasing internationalisation of production is often seen as causing an erosion of West European social systems and, in particular, the worker's position, but the macro-level empirical evidence is often flawed. This article provides evidence based on a case study of Danish slaughterhouses that offshoring strongly affects the power relations within the industry. These changes in industrial relations can largely be explained by developments in the German slaughterhouse industry and changes in European legislation which have greatly influenced a shift towards more precarious employment in slaughterhouses, using the work of subcontracted workers from Eastern Europe. This article analyses the significant role played by European integration and globalisation in altering the international division of labour and employer-employee relations."

"Based on case studies in a fish processing plant and a demolition company, this article shows how strong and institutionally embedded unions interact with migrant workers in a precarious labour market position in order to safeguard their working conditions and organise them. It shows how strong unions are in a good position to include migrant workers and thereby resist labour market segmentation. The strong Danish unions, faced with the serious challenges of intra-European labour migration, have increased their attention and resources devoted to organising migrant workers and including them in the IR model. The dynamic relation between migrant workers and national unions in this high-density setting is discussed, emphasising the need for building a trustful relation between the migrant workers and the unions in order to empower the migrants to better navigate the national labour market and increase the workers' workplace power vis-a-vis employers."

"Through a cross-national comparative study of local government ‘best practice cases' of socially responsible procurement in Denmark, Germany and the UK, this article critically examines the role of labour clauses in addressing issues of low wages and precarious work in public supply chains. It provides new insights on the negotiations and outcomes of labour clauses across different stages of the policy process, including implementation and monitoring. The analysis demonstrates the importance of pragmatic alliances of progressive local politicians, unions and employers in ensuring that socially responsible procurement moves beyond rhetoric, along with supportive national and sectoral employment regimes. Labour clauses can compensate for weak systems of labour market regulation by setting higher standards for outsourced workers, while they play a complementary role in more regulated labour markets by levelling up wages and working conditions to prevailing collectively agreed standards. "

" Transnational workers on large-scale construction projects are often poorly included in national industrial relations systems, which results in employment relations becoming trapped in vicious circles of weak enforcement and precarious work. This article shows how Danish unions have, nonetheless, been successful in enacting existing institutions and organising the construction of the Copenhagen Metro City Ring, despite initially encountering a highly fragmented, transnational workforce and several subcontracting firms that actively sought to circumvent Danish labour-market regulation. This is explained by the union changing their organising and enforcement strategies, thereby utilising various power resources to create inclusive strategies towards transnational workers. This includes efforts to create shared objectives and identity across divergent groups of workers and actively seeking changes in the public owners' attitude towards employment relations."