appeared since 2000; this has
been accelerated by the capitalist
crises. Denmark has witnessed the
biggest fall in industrial production
of any European Union country
within the country itself, with the
exception of Ireland.
According to the employers
and the bourgeoisie this has
happened because Danish labour
contracts, safety regulations and
‘high social benefits’ are harmful to
their cost capabilities and
competitiveness.
But the truth is that labour
productivity has risen sharply, and
at even higher rates since the
crises of 2008. In recent years
industrial companies have seen the
highest increase. The level of
productivity (the value produced
per hour) is estimated by EuroStat
at 425 Danish kroner an hour
(approximately $71 US) for
industrial employees – one of the
highest figures in the European
Union.
Concerning the share of wages
of the workers – that is the part of
the value created that is spent on
wages (the value of the special
commodity labour) new figures
show that it is now less than its
historical average. In the year 2000
it was at the lowest point since
1966. This also means that the
surplus value – the part of the
value created by the workers that
is appropriated by the capitalists,
their unpaid labour – has
increased, both relatively and in
absolute figures.
This testifies to the fact that
the competitive ability of Danish
industry is very good. We see a
high level of exploitation of the
workers, high quality, big earnings
and profits. Today only a quarter
of the working class is employed in
industry and construction. Another
quarter is employed in the public
sector – taking care of the sick and
elderly, as day care workers, etc. A
third quarter is employed in trade
6
and transport – as drivers, shop
assistants, cleaners and so on,
while the last quarter works in a
number of smaller branches.
One out of every five persons
employed is termed a ‘non-typical
employee’. That means working in
temporary and limited jobs, as
substitutes, modern day labourers
employed by the hour. They have
fewer rights and often no pension.
One out of four are working part
time. The share of part time workers
in retail trade is around 75 percent.
More and more people cannot
survive on one income alone and
have to combine different jobs to
make a living.
The working class is
increasingly composed of people
of different nationalities, lan-
guages, trade union organisations
and traditions. The ‘open’ internal
market of the European Union has
induced the employers to engage
in social dumping of cheaper
labour force from the poorer EU
countries. These are workers who
are forced to seek employment
away from their homeland and
families. Today 9 percent of those
employed in Danish firms are
foreign nationals, mostly workers.
In addition there are people on
contract with foreign employers who
are working in Denmark, and there
also is a group illegally traded to
the country, who have no rights at
all.
While the number of workers
from neighbouring countries like
Sweden and Germany is
decreasing, the largest new groups
of workers, around half, come from
Eastern Europe, especially from
the Baltic Countries, Poland,
Ukraine and Romania. Large
public construction projects, as for
instance metro, railways and
bridges, have only a few Danish
workers.
Foreign workers make up half
of those working as cleaners and
a quarter of the cleaning industry.
They make up one out of four in
hotel and service and one out of
five in agriculture, slaughterhouses
and restaurants. Trade and
transport has the largest number
of foreign employees, while
industry employs half of this
number. Health service is the
fastest growing business in terms
of foreign workers.
A growing number work as part
of a multinational labour force
employed in Danish global
companies such as Maersk, Arla or
Carlsberg that are spread over
many countries, or in a foreign
corporate group placed in
Denmark. This underlines the
necessity of the workers’ inter-
national struggle and solidarity.
The conglomerate ISS World
with more than half a million
employees in 51 countries is the
fourth largest employer in the
world, only surpassed by Wal-Mart,
Group Four Securicor (G4S) and
Tesco, ahead of companies such
as McDonald’s and Siemens.
A process of mass ejection from
the labour market has been going
on throughout the economic
crises, with the reduction of social
security and a whole series of
reactionary neoliberal reforms –
prominently among these un-
employment security and benefits.
This affects among others people
who are dependent on social
security schemes, many who are
ill or in poor health. A number of
people are kicked or left out of
these, with no income at all, and
officially have to be supported by
a partner.
This process also makes the
stratum outside or underneath the
working class – traditionally called
the lumpen proletariat (the
proletarians in rags) – grows. They
constitute a group of people
surviving from one day to the next,
outside or on the fringe of the
labour market – including homeless
people, the mentally ill, addicts,
prostitutes and people without
legal papers.
Class Struggle