The salary settlement into the final phase – one in three believes in better advice – Dagsavisen

Expectations for the outcome of the wage settlement are high, if we are to believe the preliminary estimates. After a fall in purchasing power in recent years, working people will finally receive long-awaited real wage growth. This means that everyone should have had more to shop for – also when price increases have taken their toll – when the Confederation of Norwegian Industry and Norwegian Industry hopefully reach an agreement.

The alternative is that society could be thrown into a general strike when the working week starts on Monday 8 April. LO showed the ability and willingness to put power behind the demands when the main organization took members out on strike last year. The warning from LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik this year is not to be misunderstood:

– We are prepared to go on strike to get what is fair, she said when she addressed the representative council before LO adopted the main lines of this year’s salary settlement.

– We must have our share of the cake. And a fair distribution. Because there is actually room for a good and solid wage settlement. Export earnings are historically high, and the industry is experiencing good times, she said.

The voluntary committee was adjourned on Tuesday without agreement. On Wednesday morning, the parties sit down together with national mediator Mats Ruland to get help in finding a way to a solution.

Waiting for worse advice

There is no doubt that there are great expectations for this year’s salary settlement, points out consumer economist Magne Gundersen at Sparebank 1. However, he is surprised that the expectations are not even greater.

– After all, we have had several years now with weakened purchasing power and, in addition, a sharp rise in interest rates. All this has given ordinary people noticeably less to worry about, and for some their private finances are now completely at breaking point, he says, referring to the consumer survey Respons Analyze has carried out for the bank.

* 36 percent of the participants expect wages to rise more than prices. This is divided into 23 per cent who expect them to rise “somewhat more”, and 13 per cent who expect wages to rise “significantly more” than prices.

* 24 per cent expect wages to rise less than prices, divided into 17 per cent who expect them to rise somewhat less, and 7 per cent who believe wage growth will be significantly less than price growth.

* 20 percent expect wages to rise as much as prices.

* 21 percent do not state what they expect in this year’s salary settlement.

– My impression is that many people have run out of patience now, and that both employers and employees see that real wage growth is necessary to bring about the settlement, says Gundersen.

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Broke after three days

The breach in this year’s main settlement was a fact just three days after the solemn exchange of demands between Fellesforbundet leader Jørn Eggum and acting leader Knut E. Sunde in Norsk Industri.

It was not unexpected. Rather, it is the rule rather than the exception that the settlement not only goes to forced mediation, but that mediation takes place for hours on end before the public is presented with an outcome.

The voluntary mediation started already on the same day that the parties announced that they could not get to port on their own. On Tuesday over Easter, the plans for the Fellesforbundet’s strike action in the event of a conflict will be announced, at the same time as the forced mediation starts at the Hotel Opera in Oslo, where the parties and the national mediator will meet physically to try to hammer out a settlement that prevents a general strike.

Fellesforbundet has announced the termination of employment for 32,108 members who are on the collective agreement Industrial Agreement, writes Frifagbevegelse.

– We have come as far as we think we can get in the negotiation, but it is not moving forward quickly enough. Now we need to dig deeper into the requirements and make more progress, said Eggum when he said that the union had asked for the negotiations to be interrupted and the mediation institute to be involved.

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Important dates in the salary settlement

* 3 April: Start of compulsory mediation front subject.

* April 6: Mediation deadline for front-line workers (with the risk of a strike from midnight on the night of Sunday, April 7)

* 9 April: Start of negotiations Spekter

* 9 April: Start of negotiations Work

* 12 April: Negotiation deadline for the Virke settlement

* 15 April: Start of negotiations in the KS area

* 22 April: Start of negotiations state

* 30 April: Negotiation deadline state

* 30 April: Deadline for negotiations in the KS area

* 2 May: Start of possible mediation in the KS area and the state

* 23 May: Deadline for possible mediation in the KS area and the state

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Money and expertise

It is still unknown how much the Federation is demanding in salary supplements this year. What is communicated is that the wage settlement must ensure that everyone gets increased purchasing power.

That could mean a settlement of around 5 percent. Norges Bank laid out expectations of 4.9 per cent in its latest forecast, but then with an estimate for price growth of 3.8 per cent. In that case, it would indicate a real wage growth of 1.1 per cent.

The Technical Calculation Committee (TBU) has for its part estimated a price increase of 4.1 per cent this year. If real wage growth is to end at 1.1 per cent, this means a framework from the frontline profession of 5.2 per cent.

The frontline settlement applies to industry exposed to competition. This settlement is first carried out to ensure that wages in Norway do not become much higher than at Norway’s competitors abroad.

Acting leader Knut E. Sunde in Norsk Industri refuses to discuss figures and sizes in full public view, but spoke positively of looking at the Federation’s demands for continuing and continuing education reform. Admittedly, the employees have a somewhat different set-up, but also on the employer’s side, they are concerned that businesses and employees develop together with new technological prerequisites.