Demands for higher salaries
The members of Finansforbundet in Nordea are very clear about their top priority at the coming negotiations about the collective agreement. At a time of significant global uncertainty, the negotiations look set to be very difficult
“The members mainly focus on higher salaries.”
Dorrit Brand, president of Finansforbundet in Nordea (FiN), has no problems interpreting the members’ demands. They clearly appear from the member surveys conducted ahead of the drafting of demands in connection with the coming round of negotiations.
Salary increases are not only the main demand at Nordea. It’s also the main demand for the members of Finansforbundet (Financial Services Union Denmark) overall. However, Dorrit Brandt points out that the negotiations with employers look set to be extra hard this time.
“I fully understand the members’ demands and I’m sure we’ll find a way. But we predict that the long-term effect of salary increases in a world with great uncertainty will influence the negotiations.”
Long process
The process of collecting and drafting demands started in the spring when meetings for all Nordea’s union representatives were held in three places across the country.
Like in previous years, the representatives have asked the members about their everyday challenges – what they think doesn’t work very well and what could be improved or discontinued.
“The most recent collective agreement included Job Salary and it has given rise to some challenges, which a lot of members mention. They call for sharper definitions to avoid different interpretations of 'independent work planning', for example,” says Dorrit Brandt.
“I fully understand the members’ demands for higher salaries and I’m sure we’ll find a way. But we predict that the long-term effect of salary increases in a world with great uncertainty will influence the negotiations,” says Dorrit Brandt, president of Finansforbundet in Nordea.
Other frequent feedback was that the members experience extreme busyness and that this has been the case for a long time.
“Some of the feedback that we received cannot easily be drafted into demands for negotiation but it will not be shelved for that reason. We will continue to work on all kinds of feedback.”
Effective from next summer
As a member of the central board of Finansforbundet Dorrit Brandt is part of one of the three working groups that provide input to the closing negotiations. Some of the issues that the working groups focus on are salary, competencies, well-being and flexibility.
The negotiations with the Danish Employers’ Association for the Financial Sector will kick off in January and are expected to be finalised by the end of February.
Then Nordea’s company collective agreement negotiations will start. The new company collective agreement is expected to be negotiated in March/May and to take effect on 1 July 2023.
