National Report Denmark - Social Dialogue and the public services in the aftermath of the economic crisis
Research paper by Mikkel Mailand
Although the crisis have had impact on public service and public sector employment relations through austerity measures and other crisis-related policies, these measures and policies have been relatively modest in scope and impact.
The reforms have mostly been of the quantitative type, although some initiatives also imply qualitative changes. The drivers of the crisis-related policies, including the austerity measures, have not only been aims for budget control, but also aims for increased labour demand.
It is moreover clear, that austerity measures are not always the only important drivers of change regarding job-levels and public sector employment relations in Denmark. Also the demographic development and pre-crisis reforms (such as the Structural Reform) are important drivers. The role of the social partners in the austerity measures has been modest on the national (tripartite) level, but they have played a greater role in relation to austerity on (bipartite) sector- and local levels.
A shift in power relations in the direction of the employer side has taken place, but the social dialogue institutions are by and large unchanged.
This research paper is the Danish contribution to the comparative European Union project Managing workforce change: Strengthening Public Services Social Dialogue in an Era of Austerity. Besides Denmark the participants of the project are: The Czech Republic, France, Italy, The Netherlands and United Kingdom. A comparative report based on the country reports is now available. The Danish research paper, the comparative report and all country reports as well as a conference paper can be downloaded below (all in English).