Nurses in Denmark to Go on Strike from Saturday Amid Pay Dispute

(Bloomberg) -- About 5,000 Danish nurses are preparing to go on strike from Saturday, after their union failed to reach an agreement with employers over pay.

The Danish Nurses’ Council rejected the wage proposal put forward in Copenhagen, Grethe Christensen, the group’s chair, said at a press conference on Monday.

The council has made the case that nurses, who are predominantly female, have been underpaid for years, and argues that the development is a manifestation of gender discrimination. The strike won’t affect the treatment of life-threatening medical conditions, but planned operations not deemed critical will be postponed due to the industrial action.

The roughly 5,000 nurses who will stop working represent about 10% of the total workforce in Denmark, Christensen said during a press briefing broadcast by TV2.

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