The trade union 3F generally do not have much time for the model of inscrutable consortia with foreign contractors, subcontractors, and sub-suppliers to subcontractors. But they praise Femern A/S and especially FLC for complying with Danish agreements and offering orderly conditions for Danish and foreign employees. Chairman of the construction group in 3F, Palle Bisgaard, also hopes that the SICE-Cobra consortium will learn from that model when they start with the technical installations in the tunnel:
The alarm bells are ringing
– Of course, there are always price issues, and this kind of price difference causes all sorts of alarm bells to ring, he says, referring to the fact that SICE-Cobra’s offer for the TEM contract was €121 million cheaper than the offer from the nearest competitor.
– You cannot conclude anything from an offer. Still, Cobra also has a pending cartel case in Spain (The Spanish competition authorities have fined Cobra several million for illegal cartel activity in another context, ed). There is a lot of evasion of responsibility in the construction with consortia and foreign contractors. And when you put it all together, all the bells ring, says Palle Bisgaard.
Should look up to FLC
He strongly encourages SICE-Cobra to look up to Femern Link Contractors (FLC) when they have to have their organization in Denmark in place during the next six months:
– SICE-Cobra must look to FLC. All FLC’s foreign employees are employed in Denmark under Danish collective agreements and should be praised for that. Of course, there are conflicts, but we sort them out at the negotiating table. And that way, everything is as it should be, says the 3F’s building group chairman.
Aarsleff makes a difference
Seen from Palle Bisgaard’s perspective, the main difference between the construction of the Fehmarn tunnel and the construction of the Storstrømsbridge is Danish participation in the consortia: – There is a significant difference between the construction of the new Storstrømsbro and the Fehmarn construction. The most significant difference is Aarsleff. Vinci is the big one in the FLC consortium. Still, Aarsleff has his finger on the pulse in Denmark and knows how the Danish employment market works. And you can feel it. In that way, FLC is entirely different from SBJV (Storstrømsbro Joint Venture, the Italian consortium responsible for the construction of the new Storstrømsbro, ed.), says Palle Bisgaard.
