Are the labour unions in Denmark planning any protests to tackle this?
Trying to get rid of holidays seems unwise. If anything, adding a day or two might actually increase productivity and happiness.
From the article:
> Initially introduced as a day of prayer, fasting and penitence, it falls on the fourth Friday after Easter and is now a common date for confirmations.
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> But the government wants to get rid of it and use the money to raise the defence budget to Nato’s target of 2% of GDP by 2030, instead of 2033 as previously planned.
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> The government insists the accelerated calendar is necessary due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move is expected to provide an extra 3bn kroner (£355m) to state coffers.
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> The cancelled holiday would entail an additional 7.4 hours of labour per worker, according to the government.
As a Dane I am not that furious.
Unions and employer organisations negotiate collective agreements determing holidays and payment.
The Danish government determines both national and religious holidays.
The arguments made by the government claiming increase in taxes and number of hours worked is dubious, or at best made by gut feeling.
The unions argument that if they take one religious holiday, they are going to take something else the next time, and that it is an attack on the Danish model, is also flawed.
Unions and employer organisations can use the upcomming negotiations to declare the day a holiday. Workers will at most loose the extra benefit compensation for working on a religious/national holiday, but come on. That is hardly the disaster the unions claim it to be. It is also not a surprise for anyone. In the past three decades of Socialdemocratic governments wanting to scrap this religious holiday, they have all been marked by a single difference compared to today. They were minority governments without the power to make an unpopular decision. The price for a majority government is that it can absolutely do what it says it will do.
So if the voters got a problem with the governments policies, then look in the mirror for who to blame. A majority of you voted for them. So enjoy.
Instead of removing Big Prayer Day we should channel the faith to turn Holger Danske into a chaos god.
Denmark is really wealthy enough to do this without taking one of the people.
Stay strong brothers in the north
It’s a rather sleazy move by the government. We just had elections and none of the three parties mentioned it before. The first thing they do when forming a government is lowering taxes for top earners and inheritance tax. Then two weeks later they try to say it’s Putin’s fault that we need to abolish a 400 year old holiday and work more. Then they say that any party who wants to be part of the new defense spending act first has to vote in favour of abolishing the holiday and thereby excluding any alternative financing. The prime minister is a social democrat and she formed a government with two center-right parties. There is not much of a worker’s party left in them.
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Are the labour unions in Denmark planning any protests to tackle this?
Trying to get rid of holidays seems unwise. If anything, adding a day or two might actually increase productivity and happiness.
From the article:
> Initially introduced as a day of prayer, fasting and penitence, it falls on the fourth Friday after Easter and is now a common date for confirmations.
>
> But the government wants to get rid of it and use the money to raise the defence budget to Nato’s target of 2% of GDP by 2030, instead of 2033 as previously planned.
>
> The government insists the accelerated calendar is necessary due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move is expected to provide an extra 3bn kroner (£355m) to state coffers.
>
> The cancelled holiday would entail an additional 7.4 hours of labour per worker, according to the government.
As a Dane I am not that furious.
Unions and employer organisations negotiate collective agreements determing holidays and payment.
The Danish government determines both national and religious holidays.
The arguments made by the government claiming increase in taxes and number of hours worked is dubious, or at best made by gut feeling.
The unions argument that if they take one religious holiday, they are going to take something else the next time, and that it is an attack on the Danish model, is also flawed.
Unions and employer organisations can use the upcomming negotiations to declare the day a holiday. Workers will at most loose the extra benefit compensation for working on a religious/national holiday, but come on. That is hardly the disaster the unions claim it to be. It is also not a surprise for anyone. In the past three decades of Socialdemocratic governments wanting to scrap this religious holiday, they have all been marked by a single difference compared to today. They were minority governments without the power to make an unpopular decision. The price for a majority government is that it can absolutely do what it says it will do.
So if the voters got a problem with the governments policies, then look in the mirror for who to blame. A majority of you voted for them. So enjoy.
Instead of removing Big Prayer Day we should channel the faith to turn Holger Danske into a chaos god.
Denmark is really wealthy enough to do this without taking one of the people.
Stay strong brothers in the north
It’s a rather sleazy move by the government. We just had elections and none of the three parties mentioned it before. The first thing they do when forming a government is lowering taxes for top earners and inheritance tax. Then two weeks later they try to say it’s Putin’s fault that we need to abolish a 400 year old holiday and work more. Then they say that any party who wants to be part of the new defense spending act first has to vote in favour of abolishing the holiday and thereby excluding any alternative financing. The prime minister is a social democrat and she formed a government with two center-right parties. There is not much of a worker’s party left in them.
Duh… Those French again… Oh wait.
Sweden: Ah shit. Here we go again.