The Danish parliament last night voted on a Bill to end an 11-day national strike of half a million Danes that has crippled industry and transport, draining petrol stations of fuel and reducing hospitals to emergency operations.
Earlier in the day, the Folketing (parliament) ratified the government's intention to have Denmark sign up to the Treaty of Amsterdam.
The government-imposed solution to the strike in the form of legislation tabled by the government of the Prime Minister, Mr Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, was aimed at ending the private-sector strike by midnight last night. Stoppages beyond that deadline would be considered illegal and subject to fines.
Criticising both workers and employers for "failing to rise to their responsibilities and find a solution to their differences", the Social Democrat prime minister yesterday tabled the Bill containing concessions to both sides of industry, whose negotiations broke down earlier in the week.
The strike has cost Denmark some 8.5 billion kroner (£880,280 million) in lost production, according to the Finance Ministry.
In ratifying the Amsterdam Treaty, the parliament voted 92 in support of the treaty and 22 against, with no abstentions. But ratification remains subject to public approval in a national referendum in three weeks time, and Mr Rasmussen came under pressure to end the strike ahead of this crucial vote.
Originally the unions had been demanding a sixth week of annual paid holidays, and employers had resisted. The new legislation grants two additional days' holiday to all workers and three more to families with children under 14. Employers will get financial compensation.