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Number of teachers on strike in Norway passes 8,000

Frazer Norwell
Frazer Norwell - [email protected]
Number of teachers on strike in Norway passes 8,000
The number of teachers on strike in Norway has now passed 8,000. Pictured is a child in a library. Photo by Redd on Unsplash

Some 1,800 teachers in Norway joined an ongoing strike over wages and salary growth on Monday, bringing the number of education professionals taking industrial action to over 8,000.

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The teachers’ strike in Norway stepped up again on Monday, with 1,800 new education professionals joining the industrial action.

On Sunday, the Education Association and The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) met with the ombudsman, but talks broke down after around two hours.

“They (KS) show no signs of movement, it is very deadlocked,” Steffen Handal, head of the Education Association, told Norwegian newswire NTB.

Handal fears that the two parties will be unable to reach an agreement, and the government will refer the two parties to a compulsory wage board to thrash out a deal.

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However, the national mediation service said there would be fresh talks between the two parties shortly.

For an overview of schools affected by the strike, click here

Teachers are striking over wage growth. The feeling among union members is that education professionals have been the wage losers during collective bargaining negotiations between the public sector and KS for six years.

In May, KS’s offer for the public sector was accepted as a whole. However, teachers opted to strike as they were unhappy with the agreement.

Over the last week, a number of groups have called on the government to force the strike to an end. However, it would be unusual for the government to end the strike as it typically only forces parties to a compulsory wage board when there is a threat to public health. Additionally, the strike is complicated by the teachers’ right to strike and pupils' right to education.

READ MORE: Could the Norwegian government force an end to the teachers’ strike?

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