Can foreigners lose their Danish work permits if they take part in strikes?
Membership of a trade union in Denmark can occasionally result in your union requiring you to take part in industrial action by going on strike. But can that put foreign workers at risk of losing their work permits?
Around two-thirds of people in employment in Denmark are members of a trade union.
Union membership forms a core part of Denmark’s “Danish model” by which the labour market regulates itself through collective bargaining agreements between the trade unions and employer organisations.
These agreements form the basis of salaries – rather than laws – and also ensure standards for working hours and vacation time under the agreements made in various labour market sectors.
As such, it’s common to be a union member in Denmark and foreign nationals working in the country are also likely to find it in their interests to join a union.
READ ALSO:
- Everything foreigners in Denmark need to know about Danish trade unions
- EXPLAINED: Should I sign up with a Danish union and get unemployment insurance?
One aspect of union membership is that members may be required to participate in industrial action, such as strikes, blockades, or solidarity actions.
For example, the 2021 Danish nurses strike organised by the Danish Nurses’ Organisation (DSR), which represents 95 percent of nurses in Denmark.
“The nurses’ strike is an example of the results of unsuccessful negotiations on the renewal of their collective agreement,” Peter Waldorff, international consultant at FH, Denmark’s largest trade union confederation, told The Local.
In this case, he continued, DSR called the strike and decided which members would be required to withdraw from work to join the strike. As the strike continued from June to August 2021 (one of the longest strikes in recent Danish history), an increasing number of union members were called to strike until the dispute was resolved.
In such a situation, it is conceivable that some of the workers asked to take part in the strike would be foreign nationals from countries outside of the EU or EEA, who need a work permit to take employment in Denmark.
READ ALSO: How can you get a work permit in Denmark if you are not an EU national?
Foreign employees who are union members would participate in the strike just as Danish members would.
Although the employees involved in the strike would stop receiving their salaries they would instead receive conflict aid from the union, “meaning the person would not need to receive dagpenge or other social aid,” Stine Lund, senior legal consultant at the Danish Society of Engineers (IDA), a trade union for engineering, science, and IT professionals, told The Local
That is an important distinction for internationals working in Denmark because receiving social benefits can impact the ability to fulfil work permit criteria.
The employer would also be required to re-employ all employees once the conflict is resolved, Lund added.
According to FH’s legal department, Waldorff said, participation in legally-called industrial action should not affect work permits.
The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) confirmed this to be the case.
"Third-country citizens will not have their residence permit revoked on the basis of employment, if they don’t work at their employer due to the reason that they participate in a legal labour dispute during their employment. EU/EEA citizens residing in Denmark will not lose their right to reside in Denmark on the basis of participating in a legal labour dispute,” SIRI said in a statement to The Local.
Although foreign workers can be asked to strike, the likelihood they will have to remains relatively low.
“In Denmark, strikes are relatively rare,” Waldorff said.
In the academic labour market, collective agreement conflicts almost never happen, according to Lund.
“We haven’t been in a situation where that measure has been taken for many, many years,” she said.
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Around two-thirds of people in employment in Denmark are members of a trade union.
Union membership forms a core part of Denmark’s “Danish model” by which the labour market regulates itself through collective bargaining agreements between the trade unions and employer organisations.
These agreements form the basis of salaries – rather than laws – and also ensure standards for working hours and vacation time under the agreements made in various labour market sectors.
As such, it’s common to be a union member in Denmark and foreign nationals working in the country are also likely to find it in their interests to join a union.
READ ALSO:
- Everything foreigners in Denmark need to know about Danish trade unions
- EXPLAINED: Should I sign up with a Danish union and get unemployment insurance?
One aspect of union membership is that members may be required to participate in industrial action, such as strikes, blockades, or solidarity actions.
For example, the 2021 Danish nurses strike organised by the Danish Nurses’ Organisation (DSR), which represents 95 percent of nurses in Denmark.
“The nurses’ strike is an example of the results of unsuccessful negotiations on the renewal of their collective agreement,” Peter Waldorff, international consultant at FH, Denmark’s largest trade union confederation, told The Local.
In this case, he continued, DSR called the strike and decided which members would be required to withdraw from work to join the strike. As the strike continued from June to August 2021 (one of the longest strikes in recent Danish history), an increasing number of union members were called to strike until the dispute was resolved.
In such a situation, it is conceivable that some of the workers asked to take part in the strike would be foreign nationals from countries outside of the EU or EEA, who need a work permit to take employment in Denmark.
READ ALSO: How can you get a work permit in Denmark if you are not an EU national?
Foreign employees who are union members would participate in the strike just as Danish members would.
Although the employees involved in the strike would stop receiving their salaries they would instead receive conflict aid from the union, “meaning the person would not need to receive dagpenge or other social aid,” Stine Lund, senior legal consultant at the Danish Society of Engineers (IDA), a trade union for engineering, science, and IT professionals, told The Local
That is an important distinction for internationals working in Denmark because receiving social benefits can impact the ability to fulfil work permit criteria.
The employer would also be required to re-employ all employees once the conflict is resolved, Lund added.
According to FH’s legal department, Waldorff said, participation in legally-called industrial action should not affect work permits.
The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) confirmed this to be the case.
"Third-country citizens will not have their residence permit revoked on the basis of employment, if they don’t work at their employer due to the reason that they participate in a legal labour dispute during their employment. EU/EEA citizens residing in Denmark will not lose their right to reside in Denmark on the basis of participating in a legal labour dispute,” SIRI said in a statement to The Local.
Although foreign workers can be asked to strike, the likelihood they will have to remains relatively low.
“In Denmark, strikes are relatively rare,” Waldorff said.
In the academic labour market, collective agreement conflicts almost never happen, according to Lund.
“We haven’t been in a situation where that measure has been taken for many, many years,” she said.
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