Skatteudvalget 2019-20, Skatteudvalget 2019-20, Skatteudvalget 2019-20
L 72 , L 72 A , L 72 B
Offentligt
LO-Denmark’s
comments on the government’s report regarding ILO
Conventions 87 and 98
The following are LO’s comments to the government’s report
on Conventions 87 and 98
regarding the right to organise and the right to collective bargaining.
By way of introduction, LO refers to earlier contributions to reports on the DIS-Act - most
recently in September 2013 and the subsequent comments/updates regarding the
government’s comments to the ILO to this date.
It is important to underline, once more, a few fundamental viewpoints.
LO still finds it deeply regrettable that the Danish government has, for more than 25 years
now, on the basis of varying arguments, refrained from taking seriously the criticism of the
Committee of Experts and the call to bring article 10 of the DIS-Act in accordance with the
ILO’s conventions.
The case regarding the Danish International Ships' Register (DIS) has, as everyone
knows, been ongoing since 1988, at which time LO brought the legislative intervention to
the attention of the ILO, and in 1989, when the Committee of Experts decided that article
10, 2 and 3 of the Act is not in accordance with ILO-Conventions 87, 98 and 111.
The LO-led Danish trade union movement maintains this view, regardless of the
government’s comments
and calls to attention the ILO Declaration from 1998 on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW)
which” commits
(all) Member States
to respect and promote principles and rights”. A fundamental commitment which has not
been met by the Danish side on this matter.
On the contrary, as earlier mentioned, multiple governments have declared that the DIS-
Act has come to stay and serves “a decent purpose” which has also been reiterated in this
years’ report.
The Danish trade union movement once more rejects the Danish government’s reference
to the DIS-general agreement between certain parties in the shipping industry as a
foundation for a national dialogue.
Regarding the report on Convention 87, LO-Denmark reiterates that the Danish
government’s reference to the fact that a seafarer may, in accordance with the DIS-
general agreement, but as an employee in accordance with article 10,3 of the Act, choose
to be a member of a Danish trade union is insufficient and must therefore repeat the
following:
In accordance with article 7 of the DIS-general agreement, only the trade union
organisations who are parties to the general agreement may assist seafarers cf. article
10,3 of the DIS-Act in matters that originate from Danish legislation. Such a membership of
a Danish trade union organisation is therefore immaterial to the collective agreement
coverage which is the fundamental precondition to a membership.
The DIS-general
agreement is therefore not of importance to LO’s
criticism of article 10 of
the DIS-Act because it clearly appears from the DIS-General agreement, article 1, that the
parties’ participation to the agreement generally presupposes that they “observe the right
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to conclude DIS-collective agreements with foreign trade union organisations and observe
such concluded agreements in accordance with the DIS-Act.”
LO underlines and reiterates that, in the construction of article 10 of the DIS-Act, with its
division of negotiating powers to Danish and foreign seafarers, a labour law vacuum has
been created which does not provide any actual right to collective bargaining for any trade
union organisations. A Danish industrial dispute in the form of a strike against ships
manned by seafarers without residence in Denmark, in accordance with article 10,3, is
illegal since such workers are not covered by a collective agreement concluded in
Denmark.
The DIS-Act is a ad hoc Act which, in Denmark, is only applied to shipping and only
targets Danish trade unions for seafarers. It is obvious that Denmark, in its targeted efforts
to attract foreign tonnage to the DIS-register now, pro-actively, calls attention to business
conditions that are favourable to the shipping companies by offering a trade union free
zone in accordance with the DIS-Act.
LO finds it relevant in this connection to refer to the CFA Digest para 20 “The Committee
has referred to the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises
and Social Policy, adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO in November 1977, which
states that (paragraph 46 of the Declaration, as amended in November 2000): where
governments of host countries offer special incentives to attract foreign investment, these
incentives should not include any limitation of the workers’
freedom of association or the
right to organize and bargain collectively”
In this report on Convention 98, the government refers to the bilateral dialogue between,
on the one hand, the Danish Metal Workers’ Union and, on the other hand, The Danish
Maritime Authority as well as the working group/sub-committee of the liaison committee.
Once more, we underline that neither 3F (the United Federation of Danish Workers) or LO
have been included in this dialogue.
As it appears from the report, there still exists a formal disagreement on the DIS-Act and
LO finds
that although there may be” national
circumstances, such as the history of labour
relations and the social and economic context” the freedom of association principles apply
uniformly and consistently among countries. Therefore, these fundamental rights also
apply in Denmark.
In the report on Convention 98, the government states, among other things, that “However,
the underlying reasons for section 10 of the DIS Act still apply”.
LO therefore underlines once more that the DIS-Act has existed during alternating market
conditions. The conditions that existed during the implementation of the DIS-Act in 1988
are fundamentally different to the conditions of today, and yet the government maintains
that the underlying reasons for the DIS-Act still apply.
Finally, it is also argued in the Government’s reporting on Convention 98 that “It remains
the hope of the Government that the parties of the shipping sector are able to find common
solutions in this matter.”
However, LO finds that the ultimate responsibility for ensuring
respect for the principles of freedom of association lies with the Government.” It is the
responsibility of the Government to ensure the application of international labour
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 L 72 - 2019-20 - Endeligt svar på spørgsmål 35: MFU spm. om at oversende korrespondance/afrapportering, som regeringen har foretaget til FN-organisationen ILO m.v., til skatteministeren
Conventions concerning freedom of association, which is why the government cannot refer
solely to “the parties of the shipping sector”.
Finally, once more, LO calls on the government to initiate actual dialogue on article 10 of
the DIS-Act with all parties from the worker-side with a view to bringing it in accordance
with the ILO’s Conventions.
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