The short version
- There is a breach in the voluntary mediation between the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and Norwegian Industry (NHO).
- The next phase is compulsory mediation with a deadline of midnight on the night of Sunday.
- Today it became known which companies are affected by a possible strike. You can read the list in this article.
View more
They announced this on Tuesday afternoon, when the Confederation announced the resignation of over 14,000 members in 134 companies.
Among the companies possibly hardest hit are:
- The energy company Yabimo Norge AS, with its main Norwegian base in Stord, is the hardest hit. There, 645 employees are out of work due to a strike.
- At Akers Solutions in Verdal, 600 are going on strike.
- Akers Solutions, Stord, 594 employees.
- Kaefer Energy, Stavanger (533 employees)
- Fosdalen, Verran (521).
- Haugesund Skips and Offshore Servidce AS (441).
- Subshore.no As, Stord (440)
- The rental company EuroRessurs AS, Sandnes (378).
Screens the North Sea
Although many of the oil-related companies in Western Norway will be out of business during the strike, according to VG’s experience, the outage has been done surgically so as not to affect oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The reason for that is that the Federation wants to prevent the government from intervening and stopping the strike.
It is also worth noting that the major arms manufacturer Nammo has not been taken out. One reason is that the Confederation does not want to cripple arms production for Norwegian and Ukrainian use.
Here you can see if any businesses in your neighborhood are affected:
This and this overview.
Mediation on Sunday?
Fellesforbundet’s leader Jørn Eggum emphasizes that the goal is to reach an agreement through mediation. But if this does not work, a strike is a fact.
– This first withdrawal will contribute to an effective strike that will hit the employer side hard. Should we end up in conflict, there will be more withdrawals continuously, says Eggum.
The strike action comes after today there was a breach in the voluntary mediation between the LO confederation Fellesforbundet and Norsk Industri (NHO), which is the counterparty on the employers’ side.
It is in reality a pure procedure and it was expected that the breach would come today, Tuesday:
This means that the parties will now go into so-called forced mediation for four days, with a mediation deadline of midnight, night to Sunday.
If the parties have not managed to agree within the deadline, there may be a strike from Monday morning 8 April.
The way settlements have developed in recent years, it has almost become a tradition for the real and decisive mediation to take place overtime, beyond the night on Sunday and often well into Sunday.
It is leader Jørn Eggum of the Federation and acting leader, Knut E. Sunde, of Norsk Industri who will try to reach an agreement in the next few days.
The framework looks like this before the decisive mediation:
The price increase this year is estimated to be 4.1 per cent. Fellesforbundet and LO demand that their members have real wage growth this year.
This means that wages must rise more than the rise in prices.
They must therefore have more than 4.1 per cent.
After several years of falling real wages, where prices have risen more than wages, there are clear expectations – both at the grassroots in LO and in Eggum’s own negotiating delegation – that wages should rise by around five percent.
This will result in a salary increase of NOK 28,000 and a real wage increase of NOK 5,000 for someone with an average industrial worker’s salary.
You can get this
Here you can see what such a wage increase means for different groups.
Next to salary, money for continuing and further education is central to the mediation.
Both Fellesforbundet and Norwegian Industry agree that with today’s rapid technological development, we must prioritize upgrading our employees’ knowledge.
The question is who will foot the bill.
Eggum has said that a letter may be sent during the mediation, to the government, to get them on the splicing team.
Questions and answers about the salary settlement
What is a strike?A strike is when workers stop work to protest something they are not happy with at work, such as wages or working conditions. They do this to put pressure on their employers to bring about changes.
Why might there be a strike now?There may be a strike because the employees, represented by Fellesforbundet og Parat (YS), and the employers, represented by Norsk Industri, have not agreed on wage increases. They also argue about who will foot the bill for further and further education and how large low-wage supplements should be given.
Who is Fellesforbundet and Norwegian Industry?Fellesforbundet is part of LO, which is the major organization for workers in Norway, with over one million members. They work to improve wages and working conditions for their members. Norsk Industri is part of NHO, which is the major organization for employers. They represent the companies and work for their interests.
What does real wage growth mean?Real wage growth means that your wages increase more than the prices of goods and services. So if prices go up by 4.1 percent and your wages increase by more than that, you have had real wage growth because you can buy more with your wages than before.
What is the front subject settlement?The frontline settlement is wage negotiations that start with some selected companies that compete with companies in other countries. The result of these negotiations sets a standard for wage increases that other industries and sectors in Norway will follow.
What is meant by the salary increases cannot be too high?If wage increases are too high, it can make Norwegian goods and services too expensive compared to goods and services from other countries. This could lead to Norwegian companies losing out in competition with foreign companies, and it could damage the Norwegian economy and lead to increased unemployment.
Leading the way
Fellesforbundet and Norsk Industri are taking the lead in the so-called front trade settlement, which sets the financial framework for all wage settlements later this year.
The front subjects are selected companies in a competitive sector: Companies that compete with companies abroad.
This is what these companies can tolerate from wage increases, which the rest of the industries and sectors in Norway must follow.
If the wage increases are too high, then the Norwegian industrial companies lose out in the competition with their foreign competitors, as the price for the Norwegian goods becomes too high.
