Is there a Danish model in retail?

- Labour-management cooperation and its effects on recruitment and retention

Paper by Anna Ilsøe & Jonas Felbo-Kolding

The Danish model has been highlighted for its high union density, high coverage of collective agreements and high presence of local shop stewards. However, the number of jobs is decreasing in some of the best organised private sectors, including manufacturing, whereas jobs are created in less well organized private sectors like the service industries. The move from manufacturing to service challenges the survival of the Danish model, if a Danish model is not developed in services.

This paper examines if and how the Danish model is reproduced at local level in retail. Danish retail, is characterized by a lower agreement coverage, union density and shop steward presence than manufacturing. Furthermore, the sector-level agreement covering retail in Denmark, the National Collective Agreement for Shops, contains less options for formal local negotiations on working time and further training than the Industrial Agreement, which covers manufacturing. However, it is an open question if the informal, daily cooperation between managers and employees resembles the close cooperation we find in manufacturing on working hours and training. It is also an open question, whether managers and employees in some of the larger retail stores in fact have developed collective bargaining relations and formal institutions of cooperation at company level.

Empirically, the paper draws on an explorative investigation of how local managers and employees in Danish retail cooperate on working time and further training, and what effect this has on the recruitment and retention of employees. Danish retail companies find it difficult to attract and retain employees due to low wages and high demands of working time flexibility, and both unions and employers’ organisations seek to stimulate local cooperation on time and training to improve job satisfaction and stability at the workplace. The study includes desk research of available literature and data on Danish retail as well as in-depth interviews with six representatives from the union and employers’ organization that negotiate the sector-level agreement for retail; Union of Commercial and Clerical Employees – Retail (HK Handel) and Danish Chamber of Commerce (Dansk Erhverv). The study is the first part of a larger investigation of Danish retail, which at a later stage will include a series of comprehensive case studies among Danish retail shops.

The full paper was presented at The 7th Nordic Working Life Conference, Göteborg, Sweden, June 11-13 2014. It was also presented at ILERA European Congress 2013, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, June 20-22 2013.