Transport union strikes two-year pay deal with employers 

Denmark’s 3F transport workers union struck a two-year deal with the Confederation of Danish Industry late on Wednesday night, which will apply to 48,000 workers, the broadcaster TV2 has reported. 

The two sides will hold a joint press conference at 11am to outline the details of the agreement on pay and other benefits. 

Danish vocab: et forlig – a settlement

Danish store workers get pay rise in new bargaining agreement

Some 150,000 people who work in retail in Denmark will see their pay increase after trade unions and employers’ organisations came to a new agreement on working terms.

The union HK Handel and the Danish Chamber of Commerce (Dansk Erhverv) announced the conclusion of collective bargaining negotiations on Wednesday, news wire Ritzau reported.

The agreement covers around 150,000 people who work in the retail sector.

Under the new agreement, the lowest wage that can be paid to staff will go up by the equivalent of 721 kroner per month. The increase is set to take effect through pay rises once per year during the two-year term covered by the agreement.

Additionally, a so-called fritvalgskonto (“free-choice account”) will see its deposits rise by two percent. Workers can choose whether to use the account for salary, holiday or pension.

Danish Vocab: en stigning – an increase

Denmark’s smaller islands ‘could be uninhabitable due to storm surges 

A new study by the Danish Meteorological Institute has warned that more frequent storm surges due to climate change will make many of Denmark’s smaller islands uninhabitable even if the goal of the Paris Agreement goal of a 2C temperature increase is reached. 

By the end of the century, the institute warns, storm surges which today occur only every 20 years will hit every three years, at the same time as sea levels will have risen by 30 cm. 

The islands in the South Funen Archipelago, on the west coast off the Limfjord, and the Baltic Coast of Møns and Falster will all see much greater threats. 

Nina Baron, a climate and preparedness researcher at University College Copenhagen, said that many of these islands are very low-lying. 

“So they are particularly vulnerable if the sea level rises and if there are more extreme weather events where the sea rises two meters above the daily level. So some of the islands risk being swallowed up by the sea or becoming uninhabitable.”

Danish vocab: ubeboelig – uninhabitable

Novo Nordisk quadrupled use of monkeys in drug research 

The Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has quadrupled the number of monkeys used in its medical research since 2019, Danish state broadcaster DR has reported, meaning it has failed to meet its goal of reducing their use in research. ¨

“We cannot avoid using experimental animals. We cannot stop using monkeys within such a short number of years. It is simply not realistic to imagine,” Jan Lund Ottesen, vice president of Novo Nordisk, told DR.

The charity Animal Protection Denmark accused the company of using “a complex and intelligent animal” in its research. 

Danish vocab: firdoblet – quadrupled