“AU’s management is hiding behind legal jargon”
Unions and union representatives have had scant opportunity to help and advise their members. The unions have not experienced such a chaotic and secretive process in connection with dismissals at other workplaces.
AU’s management has kept their cards very close to their chest during the process leading to the round of dismissals, says Erik Swiatek, union secretary at PROSA (the union for IT professionals) in his criticism of AU’s management.
“They would not give the names of staff who were subject to contemplated dismissal to the union representatives. This has made it difficult for the representatives to prepare themselves for the round of dismissals. We have been able to get this information in just about all the other rounds of dismissals that we have been involved in, so it is very unprecedented. But AU’s management is hiding behind legal jargon.”
This view is shared by Jytte Gaardsted, who is professional consultant in HK (the union of commercial and clerical employees) in East Jutland.
I’m very surprised and even astonished by the secretiveness with have run into in the negotiations and in the process,” she says.
Charlotte Højby Løssl is chief consultant in DJØF’s (the union for lawyers and economists) negotiation department. Neither has she previously experienced union representatives being unable to receive a list of the union who are being proposed for dismissal prior to a consultation.
Poor voluntary redundancy packages
Neither do AU’s voluntary redundancy packages receive much praise from the unions.
“I’m not impressed with the voluntary redundancy packages. We have a lot of experience from layoffs at SAS and CSC, among others, and AU’s packages are poor,” says Erik Swiatek from PROSA.
Chaotic process
Charlotte Højby Løssl from DJØF points out that the process has been unnecessarily chaotic.
“The process up to the layoffs was confusing. It was difficult to get straight answers from the management about the voluntary redundancy packages and the senior staff schemes. That made our members feel insecure and made it difficult for our union representatives and us to advise them,” she says, before continuing:
“The period after the consultation letters had been sent has been chaotic. For example, the information on competence development has come little by little and very late. This has made the task of providing advice difficult for us and our union representatives, and it has caused great anxiety for the affected members.”
Omnibus has also tried to get a comment from the Danish Association of Masters and PhDs, who have previously come with similar criticism, saying that the union representatives have had scant opportunity for carrying out their job, and also describing AU’s voluntary redundancy package as “very unattractive.” But they did not wish to comment at the time of the interview as the union’s consultants were still engaged in negotiations with AU’s management.
Gade rejects the criticism
In an email to Omnibus, deputy director of AU HR Louise Gade provides the following grounds for AU choosing not to hand over the names of staff who were subject to contemplated dismissal.
“This has been done in consideration of the individuals involved, the personal data regulations and in consultation with the Agency for the Modernisation of Public Administration.
She underlines that AU has made efforts to support the union representatives in other ways.
“Among other things, in the run-up to the handing out of consultation letters the union representatives received information on how many relevant staff members were to be notified for dismissal, their place of employment and when they would receive the consultation letter.
Neither does Gade agree with the unions experience of a chaotic process.
“I’m sorry that some people find the process to be chaotic. We have made great efforts to organise and communicate the process. There have been on-going meetings with union representatives and joint union representatives and we have created a dedicated website about the process.
The possibility of applying for a voluntary retirement was announced in December. Gade does not see any grounds for criticism.
“Very few organisations facing large-scale cutbacks have longer than a one month deadline for applying for a voluntary scheme. With regard to the senior staff scheme, I acknowledge that the presentation came a little too late in the process, but this was also due to the negotiation process.”