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Why 22,000 workers in Norway could strike from the end of the week

Frazer Norwell
Frazer Norwell - [email protected]
Why 22,000 workers in Norway could strike from the end of the week
Pictured is a business meeting.Photo by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash

Should mediation talks fail to reach an agreement on wage rises, Norway’s largest trade union umbrella, LO, has announced that over 22,000 workers can strike from Sunday.

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The union group was required to announce how many workers could strike as part of the mediation process.

At the end of last month, talks between the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) over wages broke down.

Mediation on talks, with assistance from the national mediator, will begin on Friday. If an agreement isn’t reached by Sunday, a strike may begin from 6am.
However, both parties can also agree to extend the mediation deadline to avoid strike action and dedicate more time to finding an agreement.

Ferry services and breweries are among the businesses that could be affected by the first wave of strikes. Meanwhile, another trade union group, YS, has announced it would take out 1,400 members on strike. These withdrawals would mainly concern security staff for shops and businesses.

LO has maintained throughout talks that it was pushing for a real wage increase for its members. According to a government estimate, inflation is forecast to be 4.9 percent in Norway in 2023. This means LO is after a wage rise in the region of five percent.

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“Norwegian workers have taken responsibility through several challenging years for Norwegian working life, with the pandemic and high price growth. Now we see that many companies are doing very well and profits are high. Our aim is to equalize differences between people and ensure that Norwegian workers get their share of the value creation,” Peggy Hessen Følsvik, leader of LO, said in a press release.

The 22,000 workers that could be taken on strike would represent a first wave. If an agreement isn’t reached, LO can take out up to 180,000 members on strike.

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