Red flags on the construction site
Poor wages and bad working conditions:
This is why there were red flags in front of the construction site on Buddinge Hovedgade 80, Thursday, 22th November.
A number of construction unions in Copenhagen demonstrated Thursday morning in front of a larger building site on Buddinge Hovedgade.
The reason for the demonstration is that the Lithuanian company, UAB Fikripa, pay their workers too little and that the company does not want to sign an collective agreement with 3F-BJMF.
In Denmark, it is not the government that determines minimum salary and working time. It is the trade unions and employers, who do so in common. If a company does not want to make an collective agreement, the trade union has the right to respond by making a sympathy-conflict with the company.
A sympathy-conflict means that the trade union movement will inform all its members that they can no longer work in the workplace, where there is a sympathy-conflict.
On Buddinge Hovedgade it meant that all workers employed in companies with collective agreements, mostly electricians and plumbers, left the building site.
It is totally legal and their employer gave them work on other construction sites.
It was also legal to demonstrate in front of the construction site. The police and the municipality had given permission.
If the matter is not resolved soon, the sympathy-conflict will mean that, for example, truck driver who come with materials, will stop driving to the construction site.
Why does the trade union demand a collective agreement?
In Denmark, the collective agreement is the most important guarantee for good working conditions. Therefore, the trade union movement alarms bells ring when a company - regardless of nationality - will not sign an agreement.
In this way, the trade union movement protects working conditions for everyone regardless of who they are, Danish or Lithuanian. In the trade union movement in Denmark, we have nothing against colleagues from other countries - on the contrary. We work for when you work on a construction site in Denmark, gets a high wages.
The minimum wage in 3F's agreements, for example for carpentry work is approx.: 125 DKK/hour, but the normal hourly rate is somewhat higher. Typically around 200 DKK/hour. And then there comes about 30% additional Holiday pay and pension etc. If you work more than 37 hours a week, you should typically have 63 or 125 kr extra in overtime allowance.