This time the demonstrations are for strikes happening among nurses in Denmark as well as child care workers. Agneta, my host Mom, has been enjoying the sunshine this week out in our garden as her institution, as the Danes call their child care centers, is on strike. The employees are asking for higher wages but in the case of the child care centers they are focused on getting more employees working. The slogan means "more hands". Throughout Denmark there is a very low level of unemployment, to the point of being an issue the government is trying to deal with. I have even heard that the government is trying to get students to go directly to University or to a career instead of taking the gap year most Danes have after high school.
Representatives from Local Government Denmark (KL) have indicated that the possibility of a long-term strike would be catastrophic for health care institutions and nursing homes, and they are now considering sending non-striking employees home without pay to pressure the unions into ending the conflict.
The situation with the child care centers may be remedied this coming week but the nurses are into their second week and the government is coming out and saying that, "'At some point it no longer becomes reasonable that certain municipalities and workplaces whose employees are not with the strikers must shoulder the burden,' said Fabrin. 'It might therefore be necessary to take drastic measures and broaden the conflict through a lockout.'
If a lockout does occur, it would not be before next month because the law requires a four-week advance notice. Which sounds very Danish ... they are going to let the strikers know a month in advance about taking these actions. Hopefully it doesn't come to that!
Speaking of which .... at my University in Chile the students were on strike last week! How unfortunate it would be if we had a strike with the University system and I wasn't able to take my finance exam ... unfortunate indeed ...
Right!
Thursday evening I took Antonio and Agneta to see a ballet at the Royal Theater! The show was Don Quijote and although we had pretty bad (horrible) seats were able to move in for a better view after the first intermission. The show was very lovely and the orchestra was absolutely amazing. I had almost forgotten seeing Don Quijote in Chile as well ... and of course it was a musical so they are not necessarily comparable but ... it was definitely an entirely different experience to say the least. The having an orchestra part was probably the most significant, whereas in Chile it was just a recorded piece. I did have much better seats last time but the theater was not nearly as regal and majestic. It was just really great to get out of the house and enjoy an evening with my host parents.
The show lasted until nearly 11pm and I know it was much later then Antonio is used to, but he was a really good sport and seemed to have enjoyed the show. I'm not sure if it was because it was a ballet or if there was something about our view but it was definitely difficult to follow the story. I knew what the story was and could associate the characters but without dialogue it is a bit harder to follow. At least that's how I think Agneta and Antonio felt. Before we left for the show Agneta was saying that she was sure there would be some sort of singing or acting ... and I thought, well maybe ... but then when I really started to think about it ... ballerinas are not actors or singers, and usually for good reasons : )
Most of all I was happy to see a dance performance (an amazing one at that!) and hope that once I'm back in Washington and settled I can find a weekly dance class to get back into.
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