Metro gives one of its subcontractors the boot

Working conditions were not up to standard

The main contractor for the Metro City Ring construction project, Copenhagen Metro Team (CMT), has ended its co-operation with the Irish subcontractor Atlanco, it was revealed yesterday by the Metro company Metroselskabet in a press release.

In Metroselskabet’s contract with CMT there is a so-called ’social clause’, which requires that all subcontractors follow the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention.

Employees engaged through subcontractors should benefit from the same pay and working conditions as employees of Danish companies. The subcontractors are also required to join a Danish employers’ organisation.

Can’t compromise
However, in recent months the working conditions on the Metro construction sites have been the subject of media attention and criticism.

READ MORE: Metro is Denmark's most dangerous workplace

Metroselskabet’s head, Henrik Plougmann Olsen, said that on Wednesday the company received documentation of failures by Atlanco that meant that co-operation with them could not continue.

”We make very clear demands that there should be proper conditions on the building sites and these demands are not flexible,” he said.

”Therefore we need to crack down hard if the rules of play are broken, and this is the consequence. Therefore I’m very satisfied that the co-operation with Atlanco has stopped.”

Some 36 cases relating to working conditions on the construction project have been reported since work began three years ago. According to Metroselskabet, this is in line with the rest of the construction industry.

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