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Future work environment

Future work environment. New problems New posibilities New strategies. A Polish-Danish trade union story. Two different worlds bounce into one another: The Danish carpenters union visits a big public construction site in Denmark. The union discovers 50 Polish workers

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Future work environment

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  1. Future work environment • New problems • New posibilities • New strategies

  2. A Polish-Danish trade union story • Two different worlds bounce into one another: • The Danish carpenters union visits a big public construction site in Denmark. • The union discovers 50 Polish workers • They were massively underpayed and had very poor working conditions

  3. A Polish-Danish trade union story • There was a collective agreement with the German company they worked for • The Danish union succeeded in getting much better salary for the workers through a working-court case • Appr. 600.000 Euroes • The Danish union then approached the Polish workers to ask them to become members of the Danish union as long as they were working in Denmark

  4. A Polish-Danish trade union story • The answer from the Polish workers was: • No thank you • How can we understand this answer? • Let us reflect on the labour market situation

  5. Increased global competition

  6. Uncertain terms of employment

  7. ”The employer” is disintegrating • Who engaged me? • Outsourcing • Franchising • Transnational ownership • Complex supply chain arrangement

  8. New technologies • Physical inactivity in automated systems • Nano-technology • Biological engineering

  9. Work floats in time and space • You work: • at the workplace • at home • in transit • in different enterprises : • No social feed back! • No acknowledgements • No control over your life

  10. Individualism and consumer orientation • Neo-liberalistic societies with growing individualism: • The worker creates no identity through his work • No collective standards

  11. Has work environment ended in a blind alley? • Isolation of: • Safety organisation in companies • Labour Inspectorates (no tools for new w.e. problems • Trade union work environment consultants How to get influence on corporate decisions?

  12. Work environment concept is being diluted • No boundaries between work and spare time means focus on lifestyle problems for the individual workers • Little focus in the collective work environment matters of ergonomics, chemical risks etc.

  13. Think positive • Contact to the Baltic region through this conference is an important step forward • We have had the chance of getting to know one another – the first step to solidarity across borders

  14. Think positive • We must include work environment aspects in • Terms of employment • Managerial rights

  15. Think positive • Norway has passed a law which only allows precarious work under certain conditions • Denmark is planning to include health aspects of night work in the next collective bargenings

  16. The Polish wooden house story local • The history of the Polish prefabricated wooden house company • A Polish owner of a company producing wooden houses wants to sell these houses in Denmark

  17. The Polish wooden house story • In order to match the Danish legislation he makes a contract with a Danish company to enter the market i Denmark • The Danish company demands a high profit rate • The Polish company owner accepts these condiotions because that is the market • He brings in Polish workers to raise the prefabricated houses • at a salay which is very low compared to Danish standards

  18. The Polish wooden house story • The Danish union wanted to have a collective agreement with the Polish/Danish company concerning the work in Denmark • They company did not allow this agreement and the Danish trade union stopped the work

  19. The Polish wooden house story • No Polish wooden houses are sold • The conclusion of the Polish company owner is, that this was because of the actions of the Danish trade union • This is a wrong analysis • He could sell many wooden houses if the profit in the Danish company was lowered

  20. The Polish wooden house story • The payment to the workers raising the wooden houses is a very small part of the costs even in Danish standards • An alternative analysis is that it is the Danish profit making company who ruins the possibilities of selling Polish wooden houses in Denmark

  21. The Polish wooden house story • The Danish trade union has now offered the Polish company owner, that the union will help him to evaluate future Danish partners in order to get reasonable conditions for the Polish company • End of story

  22. Think positive • EWHN conferences is a unique chance to network on future work environment matters • Next EWHN conference???????

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