Breach in salary negotiations in the state

Monday a little over a week ago started the salary negotiations in the statewhich includes, among other things, the employees at state universities and colleges.

But now there is a breakdown in the negotiations, report all four main associations.

The dispute is about money, and whether there should be one or two collective agreements in the state.

The salary settlement therefore goes to mediation with the Ombudsman. Mediation starts on 2 May, and has a deadline of midnight on 23 May.

“There was a breach because the state was not willing to put enough money on the table,” says Unio state negotiator Guro Lind, who is also head of the Swedish Research Association.

— We went into these negotiations with a clear demand to maintain our agreement model. The state wanted to force everyone into an agreement. We could not participate in that, therefore we are breaking off the negotiations, says Kari Tønnessen Nordli, head of the Academics’ Association, in a press release.

What she is referring to is that the state has two main tariff agreements, one with the main unions Akademikerne and Unio, and another with LO and YS.

She says that the state’s offer for an agreement model is far from the agreement they have today.

— No point in continuing

The state wants there to be only one agreement, but Unio and Akademikerne do not want a joint agreement with LO and YS.

The academics have said they are willing to go on strike to keep their agreement.

The main difference between the two agreements is that the salary increase in the Unio/Akademikerne agreement is distributed locally, while in the LO/YS agreement there are large central additions.

– We were too far apart, and then there was no point in continuing, says Egil André Aas, head of LO Stat in a press release.

LO has two main requirements. One is to give as much money as possible as a central addition to everyone. The second is to return to identical main tariff agreements for all state employees, which the state also wants.

– All experience shows that it is through the largest possible central supplement that we achieve the best and fairest distribution. The state’s wish, however, is for much of the wage bill to be negotiated locally. It does not result in less, but greater inequality. We could not accept that, says Egil André Aas.

– There have been good and constructive negotiations, and the state met YS Stat on several of our demands in the negotiations, but unfortunately we did not quite reach the goal, says YS Stat leader Jens B. Jahren.

The Minister: – We are disappointed

Karianne Tung, Minister for Digitalization and Administration (Ap), says in a comment:

– We are disappointed that it has not been possible to reach a solution in this year’s salary negotiations. For the state, it has been important that the parties can agree on a common main tariff agreement, and that we stay within the frontline framework.