Denmark’s industrial workers reached a new pay deal with employers to offset falling purchasing power in the first of a string of wage agreements expected in the coming months.
(Bloomberg) — Denmark’s industrial workers reached a new pay deal with employers to offset falling purchasing power in the first of a string of wage agreements expected in the coming months.
The deal, which covers 230,000 workers, is expected to set the tone for talks in other industries under the Danish model where employers and unions agree on work conditions and pay through collective bargaining agreements.
Under the two-year deal which starts from March, wages will rise by 2% per year, the labor and the employer unions said late Sunday. Furthermore, the base level of minimum wages will increase and youth workers and apprentices will get an extra 8% pay bump. Paid parental leave will be prolonged by four weeks in addition to other improvements in benefits.
“It’s a solid wage increase compared with what’s seen elsewhere in the world,” Las Olsen, chief economist at Danske Bank A/S, said in a note. “It means that wages in real terms will return in 2024 to the levels they were in 2021, if inflation develops as expected.”
Denmark’s inflation rate peaked at a four-decade high of 10.1% in October, but has since come down quickly as energy prices have fallen.
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