LO, The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions ( Danish: ''LO, Landsorganisationen i Danmark'' or simply ''LO'') was founded in 1898 and was an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

(the largest of the three

national trade union center Organizers within trade unions have sought to increase the bargaining power of workers in regards to collective bargaining by acting in collaboration with other trade unions. Multi-union organizing can take place on an informal basis, or on ...

s in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

) for 18 Danish

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s. At the end of 2018, it merged into the new

Danish Trade Union Confederation The Danish Trade Union Confederation (, FH) is the largest National trade union center, national trade union centre in Denmark. On formation in 2019, it had 79 affiliated unions, with a total of 1.4 million members. History The confederation was ...

History

Lizette Risgaard, who became the first ever female President for LO-Denmark in October 2015, had worked her way slowly up the ladder and was for eight years the vice president. From 2015, LO engaged in negotiations with FTF about a potential merger. This occurred on 1 January 2019, and the LO became part of the new

Organisation

In 2016, LO had a membership of about 1.1 million workers (450,000 of them being public sector employees and 650,000 of them being private sector employees). It cooperated with the two other Danish trade union centers: the AC – The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations and the FTF – Confederation of Professionals in Denmark. Members of the 18 trade unions of the LO were typically skilled or unskilled manual labourers,

tradesmen A tradesperson or tradesman/tradeswoman is a skilled worker that specialises in a particular trade. Tradespeople (tradesmen/women) usually gain their skills through work experience, on-the-job training, an apprenticeship program or formal educat ...

and

blue-collar worker A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labour, manual labor or Tradesman, skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, Warehouse, warehousing, mining, ...

s from the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

. Members may have had a

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with req ...

, but not a

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

. A typical LO-member occupied a

lower Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

position in society and earned an hourly

wage A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work (human activity), work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include wiktionary:compensatory, compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', ''prevailin ...

. LO-members were e.g.

cleaner A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter or caretaker, is a pe ...

bus driver A bus driver, bus operator, or bus captain is a person who drives buses for a living. Description Bus drivers must have a special license above and beyond a regular driver's licence. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus st ...

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, hot-water production, sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

electrician An electrician is a tradesman, tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the ...

s, nursing assistants,

hairdressers A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A hairdresser may also be re ...

, painters, cosmeticians, gardeners, iron workers, dairymen,

secretaries A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, Personal assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project manageme ...

technician A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles. Specialisation The term technician covers many different special ...

s, assistants, etc. The LO was affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and the Council of Nordic Trade Unions (NFS). The LO carried the role of coordinating

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...

. It also sought to influence the government and the political parties when it comes to drafting and implementing legislation, especially in relation to labour market policies. It represented the trade union movement's interests on various boards, commissions and committees.

Affiliates

Presidents

:1898: Jens Jensen :1903: Christian Martin Olsen :1909: Carl Madsen :1929: Vilhelm Nygaard :1937: Christian Jensen :1938: Knud V. Jensen :1939: Laurits Hansen :1943: Eiler Jensen :1967: Thomas Nielsen :1982: Knud Christensen :1987: Finn Thorgrimson :1996: Hans Jensen :2007: Harald Børsting :2015: Lizette Risgaard

References

External links

LO's Official Website (in Danish)LO's Official Website (in English)

Information published by LO (in English)
{{Authority control International Trade Union Confederation European Trade Union Confederation Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD Council of Nordic Trade Unions 1898 establishments in Denmark Trade unions established in 1890 2018 disestablishments in Denmark Trade unions disestablished in 2018 Labour movement in Denmark