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COPENHAGEN, Denmark – (AP) – The Danish parliament is set to end a nurses’ strike on Thursday by implementing a previously rejected pay proposal, a rare intervention in a country with a labor market model that calls on employers and unions to agree on working conditions through collective bargaining.
The social democratic government’s compromise proposal would put an end to the strike which began on Saturday in mid-June. That would give Danish nurses a 5% pay rise over three years – terms they rejected in March when they voted against a 3-year pay deal their union leadership approved.
Nurses who work for Danish Regions, a government employer that runs Denmark’s healthcare system, argued they have been underpaid for years.
The nurses’ walkout began in mid-June with around 10% of the workforce and has gradually increased to include a larger share, although those involved in caring for COVID-19 patients have not participated.
The strike resulted in the cancellation of thousands of planned surgeries. The government on Wednesday cited a backlog of what the Danish health authority estimated at 35,500 delayed operations as the reason it decided to intervene with a law implementing the rejected wage agreement.
Lawmakers in the 179-seat parliament were due to approve the proposal on Thursday with support from the center-right opposition.
In Denmark, the government rarely intervenes in wage negotiations and only does so as a last resort in the absence of agreement between public employers and unions.
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