Denmark: Trade unions still afloat at ebb tide

In a European context, where the power of unions are rapidly deteriorating, Danish trade unions remain strong with high union density and an enduring strong institutional and associational position. Collective bargaining autonomously led by the unions and employers endure as the primary wage-setting model, and the overall IR model remain in general based on a consensual approach between employers and unions. Trade unions remain an influential societal actor in Denmark, and are perceived by the large majority of citizens as an important and legitimate actor. Yet, the unions have experienced some decline in union density in the last decades in particular outspoken in certain sectors, while there is also a growing share of union members in yellow unions as well as migrant workers that are largely not unionised. On the other hand, unionisation has been growing among white-collar workers with a university degree, and there has been an increasing union consciousness among white-collar segments of the economy.