Working environment most important task for unions

In early 1999, for the second year running, Denmark's LO trade union confederation published the results of an attitude survey of members' priorities for union activity. Once again at the top of the list are work to improve the working environment and continued efforts to counter unemployment. In this context, pay and longer holidays are relegated to a lower position

Trade union members are more forward-looking than they are given credit for. Strong feelings of solidarity are evinced by the fact that members of the unions affiliated to the Danish Federation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) members place most importance on a better working environment, the fight against unemployment, the establishment of sheltered work for those with a reduced capacity to work and better training, rather than more short-sighted improvements such as higher pay, longer holidays and shorter working hours. This shows that LO members are well aware how important it is to get their unemployed colleagues into work and to create room on the labour market for the large numbers of people who are unable to contribute at full working capacity. Such are the lessons drawn by LO's deputy general secretary,Tine Aurvig Brøndum, reviewing a recent LO survey of members' attitudes to trade union tasks.

The survey, which followed a similar exercise in 1998 (DK9801152N), was carried out by the Gallup Polling Institute and covered a representative sample of 1,028 LO members. Telephone interviews were conducted over the period from December 1998 to January 1999. Members were asked to consider a number of different union policy areas and assess whether they were "very important", "important", "not very important" or "not at all important". Order of priority was assessed by counting the tasks which members considered very important. The top five on the list, as set out below, were the same as last year, except that the establishment of sheltered work moved up from fifth to third place:

1. working environment - considered as very important by 54% of respondents;

2. unemployment - 52%;

3. jobs on special terms for those with a reduced capacity to work - 47%;

4. vocational training opportunities - 41%; and

5. pension schemes - 40%.

In public debate on the survey, much has been made of the fact that an issue such as longer holidays, although figuring largely in the current collective bargaining round (DK9812198F), is right down at ninth place, with 19% of members thinking it an important task. However, this survey probably does not convey members' assessment of the importance of holidays in the situation here and now. The prioritisation exercise is aimed more at assessing the trade union movement's long-term and overall tasks.