Your feelings about Danish trade unions

Hello DK researcher, welcome on Expat.com
May I ask you what is the final goal of your question?

Thank you for welcoming me

My goal is to feed my curiosity I often read in the Danish newspapers that foreign workers are being exploited by Danish employers. I live nearby a construction site that employs many Polish workers which work all day long and sleep 4-5 people in a car during the night. I know that this particular employer has signed a collective agreement which means that Polish (and other foreign workers) have a right to a minimum wage which is equal to their Danish colleagues' wage and a maximum of working hours. I am wondering why foreign workers are not willing to fight for this right? Once in a while a group of foreign workers contact trade unions for help, but this happens rarely. It is difficult for me to understand why trade unions membership (=security) is not as popular amongst foreign workers as it is amongst Danish workers? I know that trade unions in some countries are associated with the government/the state but that is not the case in Denmark.

Did you also know that the Polish workers do not have to pay tax on their wages, so they are getting a larger portion of their pay than their Danish counterparts or other expats working.

They pay taxes back in Poland and not in Denmark.

That is probably why they are not members of a union.

Maybe a little more research is required on your part, before you start attacking the employers?

Charlie
fyidenmark.com

Thank you for your answer, Charlie.

The reason why I've posted this topic is exactly that - to conduct more research on the topic, so thank you for your contribution.
I regret the apparent perception that I am attacking the employers. Being an employer myself, it did not strike me as hostile towards all employers. But now that we're at it, it is without doubt difficult for me to compete with employers who pay half the salary to foreign workers, while my company hires and fires according to a collective agreement (which I intend to keep).

I realize that some Polish workers pay taxes in Poland, as well as some of them don't pay it in either country. That still does not add to the rationality of securing your position on the labour market as a worker of any nationality.

I have had a chance to speak to some of the workers at the construction site that I live next to, and the simple answer they could give me is that they are getting 10 times the salary they could get in Poland (eventhough it's only the half of what a collective agreement would secure them), and they are only staying in Denmark for a couple of months a year so they don't see any relevance in joining a union or claiming any rights. I see the rationality in that, but at the same time I'm thinking about all the permanent residents in Denmark that cannot get a job at a construction site like this, because the employer would rather save money on the salaries. Yet, the costs of living and consumer goods are not exactly low in Denmark and a Dane working for a "Polish" salary would simply not be able to pay for anything but the rent. Hence all the talk about the "social dumping". 

I hope I've given you a better picture of my concerns, without attacking anyone
Should you have more input to the subject, I'd love to hear it!

DK Researcher,

I totally agree with your views and I think that the agreement Denmark has with Poland is a slap in the face to Danish workers and is creating a large problem in many job markets. But it is not the employers you should be targeting, but the government that made these insane agreements.

Open borders, open immigration, social integration and "bleeding heart governments" are the cause of these problems and not the employers. Employers have to compete with other companies and they do what they can to cut costs and compete.

FYIDenmark