Thousands of shop and office workers are ready to strike. The mediation starts on Sunday

Text and photo: Brian Cliff Olguin

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– We have called around to practically all the shop stewards on the strike withdrawal list and prepared them that there could be a strike, says the head of HK region East.

Adem stands in front of a dozen plastic boxes filled with yellow vests. On both Thursday and Friday, he handed out strike vests to shop stewards in the companies that will be hit by strikes first.

On Sunday at ten o’clock the mediation between the LO confederation Handel og Kontor and the employers’ organization Virke hos Riksmekleren will start.

If they fail to agree, 4,256 HK members in shops and offices will go on strike from Tuesday 30 April – in the first half.

See the full list: Shops and airports all over Norway may be hit by strikes

Two weeks ago, there was a breakdown in salary negotiations. The parties must therefore step up to the Riksmekleren.

Both grocery stores, hardware stores and duty-free shopping at the airports in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim may be closed on strike.

This requires HK

The requirements for HK can be summarized as follows:

• Increased real wage growth in line with the front-line subject’s framework of 5.2 per cent. The guaranteed wage scheme in the national agreement gave experienced employees NOK 8.45 more per hour from 1 February. HK will not count this as part of the financial framework.

• Demand for increased allowances for working on Sundays

• A continuing and continuing education reform. HK will not wait and see what the Confederation and Norwegian Industry agree on after the wage settlement.

• Full salary during illness and parental leave for 12 months. In the salary settlement two years ago, HK was approved for full pay during illness for three months.

Closed duty free shops?

When HK-nytt meets Adem, he has already been to Oslo Airport Gardermoen and visited members in the duty-free shop Travel Retail Norway (TRN).

There are 278 members ready to strike. In addition, there are members in corresponding shops at the airports in Bergen and Trondheim – a total of 373 members in the entire TRN group.

Rozina Nazar, shop steward for the TRN club at Oslo Airport believes that such a large strike will hit hard and that it will not be prudent to keep the duty-free shops open.

SIGNAL YELLOW: One of the regional office’s meeting rooms in Oslo functions as an intermediate warehouse for strike material.

Brian Cliff Olguin

ALONG THE STREET: Fawsi Adem hurries off on Karl Johans gate in Oslo when he is going to visit shop stewards who are part of the first strike at Handel og Kontor.

Brian Cliff Olguin

The booksellers

Although the vast majority of the 4,256 HK members on strike are covered by the National Sovereignty Agreement, there are eight other collective agreements to which the negotiations also apply.

One of these is the Book and Paper Agreement, which covers employees in bookshops.

It is therefore possible that Norwegians hungry for reading will also notice a potential strike. At Norli Universitetsgata in Oslo, 26 employees can be taken out of conflict.

Here Adem meets club manager Eric Tollu.

– A strike is never something I hope for, but if you have to, you have to, says Tollu.

He has been a shop steward at Norli for a year, and apart from a one-hour political strike, he has never participated in a conflict. But he is clear about what is most important to him and the members.

– Of course, I hope that we win with the wage demands, so that we can increase our purchasing power.

In recent years, workers, particularly in the retail trade, have experienced that the prices of goods and services have increased more than wages – also known as a decline in real wages. Now they want more to mess with.

Strike guards

– Have you started with the duty lists, asks Adem.

It is the shop stewards who are responsible for the benefits of the strikers.

Things seem to be under control for Tollu at Norli. He is also happy to have an agreement with the employer that they can use the company’s toilets during a possible strike. This cannot be taken for granted.

At the other end of Karl Johan, Adem meets trustee for H & M Oslo City, May Tove Olsen.

She has gained several new members after it became known that H & M Oslo City is among those who will start a possible strike.

SUPPORT PLAYER: Fawsi Adem informs the club leader in H&M Oslo City, May Tove Olsen, about how they can help her and the HK members in the event of a strike.

Brian Cliff Olguin

These members can only be called out on strike in a possible second strike call.

Olsen has no doubt that the right thing to do in this wage settlement is to fight for increased wages.

– Those of us who work in the shop see how the prices increase regularly. Earlier today I reviewed cosmetics. All products from a manufacturer rose by NOK 20, she says sullenly.

– Remember that we also have the shop steward center at Youngstorget open for you all the time. We will also distribute coffee and food there, and if we have to buy woolen underwear, we will do that too, says Adem to Olsen.