In May/June 2004, the members of the General Workers’ Union (SiD) and the National Union of Female Workers (KAD) voted on a merger proposed by the leaderships of the two trade unions. The result was overwhelmingly in favour and the turn-out was higher than expected. A major new union for unskilled workers will thus be created, though the merger will also mean an end to one of the world’s few unions for women workers only.
There have been several unsuccessful attempts at trade union mergers in Denmark in recent years (DK0111102N and DK0110101N), highlighting the difficulty of changing trade union structures. Commentators have pointed out obstacles such as trade union officials who fear losing their job and members who adamantly oppose any merger of their specific union with another union. It was thus perhaps surprising when, in May/June 2004, a planned merger (DK0211105F) between the General Workers’ Union (Specialarbejderforbundet i Danmark, SiD) and the National Union of Female Workers (Kvindeligt Arbejderforbund, KAD), proposed by the unions' leaderships, was approved by the members by overwhelming majorities. These are the two major unions for unskilled workers affiliated to the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO).
Higher turn-out than expected
In the merger ballot, 86% of those voting were in favour at KAD and 77% at SiD. The turn-out was much higher than expected, at 40% of those entitled to vote at SiD and 47% in KAD. This gives a total turn-out which is slightly higher than that in the union membership ballot a few weeks earlier on the Public Conciliator’s proposal for an overall compromise settlement to conclude 2004's various sectoral collective bargaining rounds across the private sector (DK0405102F).
A new union which brings together the 71,000 KAD members and 303,000 SiD members will thus become a reality from 1 January 2005. Furthermore, if the Union of Restaurant Employees (Restaurationsbranchens Forbund, RBF) carries through a decision to join the new union, the merged organisations will have near to 400,000 members and thus become the largest union in Denmark - well ahead of the Union of Commercial and Clerical Workers in Denmark (Handels- og Kontorfunktionærernes Forbund, HK), which has 370,000 members.
Demise of KAD
The decision to merge is a historic one, as both SiD and KAD date back more than 100 years. It was not an easy decision, especially for KAD, which is one of very few trade unions in the world to organise only female workers (DK9710134F). The reason why the merger has been possible appears to be the well-organised and active preparatory process. The top leaderships of the two unions have - by over-riding narrower personal and organisational interests - succeeded in rallying members and making them perceive the merger as necessary. The background for the decision is strong external pressure on the trade union movement in particular, and especially on the unions organising unskilled workers, and this pressure made the merger a more or less inevitable process.
While the Danish trade union movement has been able to maintain a membership rate among workers of about 80%, this general picture masks important shifts, mainly due to the trend whereby more and more people are completing education and training at higher levels. At the same time, there is a general economic development whereby traditional sectors, not least in industry, are losing jobs. This is why LO, with its many unions for skilled and unskilled blue-collar workers, has experienced a constant decline over the last decade, while a growth in membership has been maintained at the two other union confederations - the Confederation of Salaried Employees’ and Civil Servants (Funktionærerne og Tjenestemændenes Fællesråd, FTF) and, especially, the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikernes Centralorganisation, AC) (DK0201159N and TN0403105U).
It is especially the two large traditional unions for unskilled and general workers, SiD and KAD, that have been affected by these developments. During the 1990s, SiD was able to maintain its membership level through the admission of a number of small unions, including unions with skilled members. However, in recent years this process seems to have come to a standstill and SiD will thus be facing a constant fall in its membership in the coming years. This trend is further accentuated by demographic developments, with large age cohorts now coming close to the retirement age and smaller cohorts entering the labour market. This means a dwindling of the membership base. SiD has already felt the consequences of this development and has therefore undergone several rounds of retrenchment in recent years.
The consequences for KAD - which has not had the same expansion potential as SiD - have been harsher. The result has been a strong decline in membership by over 25% from 97,000 in 1990 to 71,000 today, with the prospect of a continued fall in membership in the coming years. KAD has thus experienced increasing pressure on its resources and gloomy prospects for maintaining and efficiently furthering the members’ interests through the union and its 35 local branches. SiD has been experiencing similar difficulties in maintaining a set-up with four major sector groups and over 250 branches.
Major structural changes
In the new joint union, SiD four-group structure will be changed to one with six groups that follow the main lines between the collective agreements with the various private and public employers. In the private sector, the SiD industrial sector and agricultural sector groups will remain, while its transport and services sector group will be split, with the services sector becoming independent. Many KAD members will join this new private services group, and indeed constitute the majority. Although this group will be relatively small, its place in the distribution of tasks and powers makes the new structure acceptable to KAD. The biggest change is the split of the present construction workers and workers in public sector services group (BOS) into a building and construction group and an independent service workers in the public sector group (which has been discussed for many years). With the inclusion of KAD members from the public sector, the new union will have more than 50,000 members in the public sector and it is thus natural to set up an independent group for them.
An even bigger change will take place as regards local structures. The 300 or so current local offices will be reduced to 72, with the aim of performing tasks more efficiently. Interestingly, this major structural change will take place immediately before an expected change in the structure of Denmark's municipalities, with their number cut from about 300 to fewer than 100. It has been decided that the geographical structure of the new union will follow the new structure of public authorities, and the union officials are awaiting a political clarification of this matter.
Commentary
It is important to stress that the new merger represents a radical change and that it differs from previous occasions when smaller unions have joined SiD. These involved the smaller unions being incorporated into the larger SiD, without major changes in the structure of the latter. However, the merger of SiD and KAD is an amalgamation that will create a completely new unit, with the new local structure clearly reflecting this radical change.
It will interesting to see what the name of the new union will be. No decision about this has yet been taken, but the only certainty is that it will not be SiD.
It is ironic that KAD, the union organising only female workers that was set up more than 100 years ago because SiD would not admit women members, will now be merged with this very union. Very different traditions and cultures characterise the two unions, and reconciling such different cultures will doubtless be difficult. The strong support for the merger is thus very important, making it difficult for the remaining opponents to obstruct the process.
The merger does not mean that the two unions have overcome the problems connected with falling membership. The new union can still foresee a loss of members in the coming years due to changes in business structure, the educational/training levels of the workforce and demographic developments. However, the amalgamation will make it possible to streamline the work and achieve 'synergy effects' that will - at least, for some years - make it easier to meet the challenges and ensure an effective safeguarding of the interests of the members. (Jørgen Steen Madsen, FAOS)