IDA's OK26 dictionary

A and B sides 

The employer and employee sides in negotiations, also referred to as the parties to the agreement or the negotiating parties. The A side represents employers and the B side represents employees.

AC - Akademikerne

Akademikerne (AC), the Danish Confederation of Academic Organisations, is an umbrella organisation for 28 professional organisations that organise academically educated people in Denmark. Akademikerne is politically independent and represents approximately 500,000 members with a higher education degree.

One of Akademikerne's main tasks is to negotiate the pay and employment conditions of academics. As a negotiating organisation, Akademikerne exercises the right to negotiate on behalf of public sector members of IDA and other academic trade unions.

Agreement period

The duration of the new collective agreement is typically three years, but there have been deviations from this. This was the case, for example, with OK24, OK13 and OK11, where the new collective agreements had a duration of two years.

The big table

When negotiating general demands that affect more than one trade union's members, this takes place at the ‘big table’. If it concerns all government employees, the requirements are negotiated jointly by CFU.

CFU

The Central Organisation Committee (CFU) is a collaborative organisation that negotiates general salary and employment conditions in the public sector. Akademikerne participates in this committee together with the Negotiation Committee for State and Municipal Employees (SKAF) and the Organisation of Public Employees (OAO).

Collective agreement negotiations with the Minister of Finance are conducted jointly by the CFU's negotiating committee.

Collective agreement

An agreement on pay and working conditions entered into between, on the one hand, an employers' association or an employer and, on the other hand, one or more trade unions on behalf of one or more groups of employees.

Collective bargaining pool

Agreement to allocate a specific amount or financial framework for use for a specific purpose in the central collective bargaining negotiations.

The Danish model

In Denmark, we do not legislate on what you should earn in terms of salary and pension, how many hours you should work, or whether you receive full pay when you take parental leave. Instead, these matters are determined in collective agreements negotiated between employers and trade unions at regular intervals. In short, this is the Danish model.

Economic framework

Indicates the total value of a collective agreement result. This includes working hours, pay increases, holidays, parental leave and other improvements.

Employee and Competence Authority

The government's negotiating body in the Ministry of Finance, which handles negotiations for government collective agreements.

FHO

The Negotiating Committee for the Public Sector (FHO). IDA is represented in FHO by Malene Matthison-Hansen, chair of the Council of Employees (AR).

Free choice scheme

A model that is widespread in the private sector and means that the employer pays a percentage of the salary into a separate free choice account. Each employee chooses whether to use the amount for extra pay, more freedom (typically holiday hours/days) or extra pension savings.

General demands

Demands that apply to more than one organisation's members. These may include rules for union representatives, general pay rises, holiday and parental leave that apply to everyone, or pensions and pay scales that only apply to all academics covered by collective agreements. General demands are negotiated at the “big table”.

KL

The Local Government Association, which is the employer in the municipal sector and negotiates the municipal collective agreement on behalf of all municipalities.

Linkage

When voting on extensions to the collective agreement, employees and employers vote on all agreements as a whole. This means that all areas either have their agreements renewed or end up in conflict, regardless of whether some of the trade unions have voted against the majority.

Lockout

The “conflict weapon” that employers can use to free themselves from a collective agreement. In a lockout, employees are excluded from their workplace.

Main agreement

A kind of constitution that contains provisions describing the organisation's right to negotiate. It also establishes the conflict resolution system and the peace obligation during the agreement period. The main agreements are concluded between employers and organisations, and the first of its kind is also known as the September Agreement of 1899.

Negotiation agreement

An agreement entered into when several organisations agree to conduct joint collective bargaining negotiations. The agreement typically specifies which demands are to be made, where the demands are to be made, and when the organisations are to decide on a result.

The Negotiating Community

The Negotiating Community (Forhandlingsfællesskabet - FF) is an umbrella organisation that negotiates on behalf of a wide range of organisations in the municipal and regional areas.

In autumn 2024, Akademikerne (AC), of which IDA is a member, decided to leave the Negotiating Community (FF), through which we normally negotiate general agreements for municipalities and regions – e.g. pay, holiday and parental leave.

From OK26 onwards, AC will therefore negotiate the collective agreements for academics in municipalities and regions itself, and thus also for IDA members.

The decision came after OK24, where it was not possible to reach agreement on common pay demands in FF. At OK24, AC therefore chose to negotiate on its own, in parallel with the other organisations in FF. Subsequently, AC took the step of leaving FF altogether.

Pay development

The collective agreement stipulates what pay you should receive for the work you are employed to do. However, salaries do not remain static, as society evolves, job tasks evolve, and at the same time there is also inflation, which means that consumer prices evolve. In order to prevent salaries from being eroded, salary development must take place.

Real wage improvement

A real wage improvement means that wage developments improve purchasing power. Purchasing power depends on how much money you have available and what you buy costs. Real wage growth occurs when wage increases are sufficient to enable people to buy more than before, even though prices have risen.

Real wage protection

With real wage protection, the agreed wage increases correspond to the expected price increases during the agreement period. In other words, you have the same purchasing power when your real wages are secured.

The regulatory scheme

The regulatory scheme is designed to ensure that pay developments in the public sector follow those in the private sector. Salaries are adjusted by 80 per cent of the difference between public and private sector pay developments – both upwards and downwards.

Example: If private sector salaries rise by 4 per cent and public sector salaries only rise by 2 per cent, the adjustment scheme ensures an additional increase of 1.6 per cent for the public sector.

If, on the other hand, the public sector has had higher wage growth than the private sector, 80 per cent of the difference is deducted from the agreed pay rises for public sector employees.

Implementations from the regulatory scheme are in addition to the general pay adjustments during the agreement period, which the parties agree on during the collective bargaining negotiations.

Every year, Statistics Denmark calculates the size of the pay increases in the state, municipalities, regions and the private sector.

Results paper (negotiation protocol)

Agreement paper, which typically forms the basis for the trade unions' position and is drawn up immediately after the collective agreement negotiations. Also known as the negotiation protocol.

RLTN

The Regional Wage and Taxation Board, which negotiates the regional collective agreement on behalf of all regions.

Roadmap agreement

Agreement between public sector employers and Akademikerne (AC) on a timetable and division of topics for collective agreement negotiations.

Special demands

Demands that only affect the members of one organisation, such as the IDA's demands.

Strike

The trade unions' “weapon of conflict” if a collective agreement does not end with a result that the members will vote for. A strike must be notified and be in connection with collective agreement negotiations.

Outside of collective agreement negotiations, there is a duty to maintain industrial peace, and a strike in this context is therefore considered a breach of the agreement.