Union Representatives on the OK26 Agreement: Reasonable Result – With Few Exceptions

On Wednesday, Minister of Finance Nicolai Wammen (S) presented the results of the collective bargaining in the public sector together with the chief negotiators for the employees. Among those who have been following the negotiations from the sidelines are union representatives Merethe Kruse, Helle Colding Seiersen and Agnete Larsen. 

New Three-Year Collective Agreement for State Employees in Place

Merethe Kruse is a project manager at Kitchen and union representative for technical and administrative staff with academic backgrounds (AC-TAP) at Aarhus University. Charlotte Elisabeth Kler, union representative for technical and administrative staff (TAP) at Aarhus University, hasn’t been able to comment but has instead referred to Helle Colding Seiersen, International Coordinator and union representative for the National Union of Commercial and Clerical Employees at Aarhus University. Agnete Larsen is an associate professor at the Department of Biomedicine and the new union representative for academic staff (VIP and AC-TAP) at Aarhus University. 

All three generally consider that the collective agreement negotiations have ended with a reasonable result.

“However, the pay raises are smaller than in the 2024 agreement, but at that time there was also a greater decline in real wages that needed to be recovered,” says Merethe Kruse, adding

"Overall, we’re now seeing an increase in real wages of just under 2 per cent, which should counteract the fact that inflation in recent years has made everything more expensive. It is also positive that the first pay rise will already take effect in April and again in August this year, meaning that we will actually be earning 2.38 percent more in 2026,” says Merete Kruse, who also highlights the agreement’s focus on local wage formation.

"It’s now a requirement that salary must be negotiated every year, and employers must provide relevant statistics before the negotiations and must also be specific in their reasons for rejecting offers. In addition, the one-off payment will become a bonus, which has a broader application," Merethe Kruse says.

FOCUS ON FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN AND SENIORS

Merethe Kruse also welcomes the agreement's focus on families with children by ensuring more sick days for children and better parental leave conditions. She also considers it positive that employees without young children are accommodated by the so-called flexible benefits scheme and that senior employees are offered two additional senior days. In addition to the senior days provided for in the collective agreement, AU employees aged 62 and over also have the option of entering into local agreements for up to one senior day per month. Regarding the local agreements on senior days, Merethe Kruse says that she is interested in following up on how they are implemented at the university.

"Until now, there have been very different interpretations across AU of how many senior days could be agreed upon, because it was very loosely worded. This means that some have been given 12 days, while others have been given 2. I’d like to see a more consistent approach at AU," she says.

STRESS: CALLING FOR SPECIFIC MEASURES 

The agreement's focus on stress and the psychological work environment is also very positive, Merethe Kruse points out.

“That’s also an issue we are experiencing at AU.”

She emphasises that the agreement will make it mandatory to work systematically with stress in liaison committees and that managers will be offered training in how to deal with stress.

"I’d like to see more specific measures in relation to stress management. “But it’s very positive that this issue is now receiving attention,” says Merethe Kruse, who overall encourages her colleagues to vote in favour of the agreement.

Helle Colding Seiersen agrees with Merethe Kruse that the outcome of the collective agreement negotiations is generally positive. However, on one important point, the agreement leaves much to be desired, namely, the efforts to deal with stress:

That’s not good enough. There are no significant announcements, and the initiatives lack impact. Managers can attend courses on stress prevention. I’d like to see that become mandatory," Helle Colding Seiersen says.

Stress is widespread at AU, as shown time and again by mental health assessments in the workplace, and she fears that the problem will become even greater when the government's work programme results in savings of DKK 5.5 billion in public administration by 2030. The administration at the country's universities is also expected to be affected. Helle Colding Seiersen emphasises that she isn’t aware of any specific plans for implementing the savings at AU. 

"But it rings a little hollow when the minister of finance presents a collective agreement that’s supposed to improve the psychological work environment, while at the same time he and the government are rolling out administrative cutbacks," she notes.

The flexible benefits scheme is a breakthrough

That said, Helle Colding Seiersen is very pleased with several aspects of the agreement. She particularly highlights the flexible benefits scheme, which gives employees the freedom to choose whether they want the money paid out as higher wages, increased pension contributions, or more time off. 

"This is a breakthrough, because it is something we’ve been working on for many years. It's a really good result – a significant benefit for the employees." 

She also highlights the improved conditions for families with children and those expecting children, in the form of the ‘child’s zeroth sick day’ (the day when parents are called by the nursery and asked to pick up their ill child, ed.) and the ‘child’s third sick day’ 

"It’s still an option, not a right, but I’m not aware of any cases among the employees I represent where the manager has said no."

“Finally, she turns to the pay rise, where Helle Colding Seiersen also believes that a respectable result has been achieved, with wage increases of 6.37 percent. That one particular group — namely the soldiers — will receive an additional pay increase taken from the joint pool is, in her view, simply part of the conditions of the negotiation.

"We show community spirit and solidarity; there are recruitment problems in the Danish Armed Forces. You give and take in these negotiations, and in the same way, the National Union of Commercial and Clerical Employees finally got rid of our mini-pension in the last agreement," she says. 

Better Work-life Balance

Agnete Larsen, who is the union representative for academic staff, is currently on holiday and has therefore not yet had the opportunity to dive deep into the agreement or appendices, nor has she had the opportunity to discuss the agreement with colleagues. However, her personal assessment is that a reasonable result has been achieved.

"What really struck me is that we get both the child's zeroth and third sick day. This is a very specific improvement that would be very difficult to negotiate locally, so it’s important that it’s now secured through an agreement," she says, continuing:

"I’d also like to highlight the flexible benefits scheme, which is aimed at employees in a different stage of life and gives employees more control over their situation, as they can choose whether they want more time off, a higher salary or higher pension contributions."

Work-life balance is a key issue for many academic staff, especially younger people who are starting families, Agnete Larsen says. 

"It can be difficult to make everything work, especially in a labour market like Denmark's, where many grandparents are also working and therefore cannot easily step in and help."

Among the elements of the agreement that she is less enthusiastic about is the focus on local wage formation. 

"Basically, I’m in favour of transparent, well-thought-out wage benefits that should benefit everyone," she says.

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Lisa Enevoldsen.