OK26: Settlement reached in the municipal area

After lengthy negotiations, Akademikerne, of which IDA is a member, and KL, Local Government Denmark, have reached agreement on a new three-year collective agreement for academics in Danish municipalities.

The agreement offers an economic framework of 9.09%. For Akademikerne, it has been particularly important to negotiate with its own economic framework after leaving the Bargaining Community. Another important element of the agreement is a significant salary increase of 6.27%, which gives municipal employees with academic backgrounds a good real salary growth.

Malene Matthison-Hansen, chair of the IDA Council of Employees and IDA's political negotiator for Akademikerne, is very pleased with the agreement.

'IDA has entered into negotiations on new collective agreements with Akademikerne with the ambition of securing real wage growth and increased flexibility for our members. We have now succeeded in doing so in the municipal sector, both in terms of real pay growth and a number of measures that will mean that individual members in the country's municipalities will have more flexibility in their working lives. This has been a major wish of our members, and we have delivered on it,' she says.

Malene Matthison-Hansen points out that the parties have agreed on a free choice scheme that allows individuals to choose whether part of their total remuneration should be converted into days off, pension or salary. The agreement also includes a stress package with a number of preventive initiatives to strengthen the fight against stress in municipal workplaces, as well as the option of taking the child's third sick day off with pay. Furthermore, it has been agreed that the day one is called home by a child's institution does not count as the child's first sick day.

'We have achieved our main demands: a real salary increase, a better balance between work and leisure time, and the creation of a free choice scheme in the municipal sector as well. We can tick off every single point, and I am extremely satisfied with that,' says Malene Matthison-Hansen.

With the agreement with KL – and the settlement in the state sector that was reached in February – Akademikerne only needs to reach agreement on a new collective agreement in the country's regions. Those negotiations will continue in the coming days.