By Bodil Rasmusson THOUSANDS of Danish nurses have been locked out following industrial action.
47,000 nurses have been up against both their employers and the government since May 1 over a pay claim. Not content with the miserable 3.5 per cent over two years being offered to all government employees accepted by the Municipal Workers Council (KTO) they have begun a campaign for a decent increase.
One day strikes and working to rule were met by the lockout of thousands of nurses from the hospital employers consortium which negotiates on behalf of the municipalities.
The Social Democrat government then passed a law forcing the nurses to return to work on the same terms they had already rejected.
Government intervention was immediately met by mass protests. 12,000 nurses demonstrated in Copenhagen. There were buses from all over the country. 450 from northern Jutland arrived in specially chartered aeroplanes.
A special commission has been set up to analyse the system of wages within the public sector. Many consider the commission an attempt to introduce new individual wage agreements. So called "flexibility" is at the top of the government and employers' agenda.
Poul Bjørn Berg, a nurse from Aarchus active in his local campaign, told us, 'The talk is all about efficiency, increased hours and increased flexibility - it is a provocation. We have always been very flexible and done huge amounts of overtime. We want a better basic salary, not more overtime."
The nurses are responding with a work to rule. This includes:
• demanding work timetables four weeks ahead • demanding written notice of overtime the one day before the work • demanding cancelled overtime is paid when it is withdrawn at the last minute.
Flexible
A shop steward in Gladsaxe Emilce Nielsen comments "This shows the extent nurses have already been working very flexible hours. The employers now have to keep to the rules and pay overtime wages. This will be both difficult and expensive for them."
Going to temporary agency work has been another popular form of protest. "Young nurses think that this is a good way of hitting back" says Bjørn Berg, "they are really angry and find this step very attractive. But it is a poor idea - we need a strong collec. tive presence in a workplace acting as a united group to win our demands. It is also a problem that a lot of rights, like pensions and childcare, do not exist for those working for agencies". British nurses have not yet been offered any real chance to fight on their 1% pay offer The nurses' action has not weakness that the nurses have been supported by other pub- been on strike almost alone. lic sector unions in the KTO- Now the inspiration must be cooperation. Many nurses are spread to other groups of now contemplating with- workers. drawal from the alliance. If the nurses are seen to "Instead of pulling out we win better conditions because should stay and try to make of their action others will be the other groups fight for their more likely to follow the lead. claim" argues Bjørn Berg: Now we must take forward "during the struggle a lot of the challenge to unite around nursing assistants have real- opposition to the employers ised the character of their own and end the disunity between leaderships. Now they are go- the public sector union. ing to fight for higher wages • Reprinted from Social- we should stand shoulder to istik Information, paper of shoulder with them." the SAP, Danish section of Nevertheless it has been a the Fourth International.