Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Nationwide Labour Day celebrations and speeches, an approaching tax return deadline, and other news from Norway on Monday.
Labour Day celebrations, parades, and speeches to take place throughout Norway
Norway, a country known for its vigorous union movement and worker-friendly laws, is set for a host of May 1st events on Monday.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) will participate in the marking of Labour Day in Brumunddal, Gjøvik, Lillehammer, Hamar, and Tangen. At the same time, several other ministers will be part of similar events throughout the country.
Minister of Education Tonje Brenna (Ap) will be the keynote speaker at Torgallmenningen in Bergen, while Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) will participate in events in Kristiansand, Mandal, Arendal, Grimstad and Gjerstad. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) will visit Karmøy, Haugesund, and Sauda.
The big May 1st parade in Oslo is set to start before 1 pm, and the scheduled speakers at Youngstorget in downtown Oslo are Siavash Mobasheri (R), Sunniva Holmås Eidsvoll (SV), Sirin Stav (MDG), and Raymond Johansen (Ap).
Prominent union figures – such as the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik – will also hold speeches throughout the day.
Tax Administration reports website issues as tax return deadline approaches
The Tax Administration is experiencing website issues which are making it difficult for some users to log in and check their tax return, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported on Sunday evening.
"We are experiencing some instability when it comes to people logging in and accessing their tax returns. We are working to rectify this," senior adviser Stig Flesland told the channel.
The Norwegian Tax Agency also asks users to log out and then log in again or try again later if they can't log in.
The deadline for submitting the tax return was April 30th, but since April 30th was a Sunday and Labour Day (May 1st) falls on Monday this year, people are allowed to submit their tax return by midnight on the night of Wednesday, May 3rd, the Tax Administration said.
As of last week, 2.6 million taxpayers were yet to submit their tax returns.
New food price hikes around the corner?
Imported goods have become much more expensive due to the weak krone and high price growth in foreign countries. But Norwegian stores haven't increased prices on such items – yet.
According to experts, several imported foods, including chocolate, some seafood, half-baked products, and frozen pizzas, are now artificially cheap in Norwegian shops.
READ MORE: Could Norway's weak krone mean new food price hikes?
These foods have become much more expensive overall due to the weak krone and high price growth in the countries where they come from, but due to the "price wars" between Norwegian grocery chains – which started ahead of the Easter holidays – their current price in stores does not reflect this increase.
As special price offers are set to expire by the end of April, these prices will likely go up soon, food industry analyst Ivar Pettersen told newspaper VG.
According to Pettersen, the price hikes for many items could occur after May 1st, when supermarket Kiwi's price guarantee on 245 items expires.
State and municipal wage settlement finalised
The wage settlement for state employees in Norway was finalised on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, an agreement was also reached for workers in the municipalities.
As these negotiations progressed relatively smoothly, there was no talk of mediation or strikes.
The framework wage increase for state employees ended at 5.2 percent, while the one for municipal workers came out at 5.4 percent.
The unions that took part in the negotiations expressed their satisfaction with the results of the talks.
All state and municipality wage settlement negotiations were completed well before the negotiation deadline on the night of May 1st.
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Labour Day celebrations, parades, and speeches to take place throughout Norway
Norway, a country known for its vigorous union movement and worker-friendly laws, is set for a host of May 1st events on Monday.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) will participate in the marking of Labour Day in Brumunddal, Gjøvik, Lillehammer, Hamar, and Tangen. At the same time, several other ministers will be part of similar events throughout the country.
Minister of Education Tonje Brenna (Ap) will be the keynote speaker at Torgallmenningen in Bergen, while Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) will participate in events in Kristiansand, Mandal, Arendal, Grimstad and Gjerstad. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) will visit Karmøy, Haugesund, and Sauda.
The big May 1st parade in Oslo is set to start before 1 pm, and the scheduled speakers at Youngstorget in downtown Oslo are Siavash Mobasheri (R), Sunniva Holmås Eidsvoll (SV), Sirin Stav (MDG), and Raymond Johansen (Ap).
Prominent union figures – such as the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik – will also hold speeches throughout the day.
Tax Administration reports website issues as tax return deadline approaches
The Tax Administration is experiencing website issues which are making it difficult for some users to log in and check their tax return, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported on Sunday evening.
"We are experiencing some instability when it comes to people logging in and accessing their tax returns. We are working to rectify this," senior adviser Stig Flesland told the channel.
The Norwegian Tax Agency also asks users to log out and then log in again or try again later if they can't log in.
The deadline for submitting the tax return was April 30th, but since April 30th was a Sunday and Labour Day (May 1st) falls on Monday this year, people are allowed to submit their tax return by midnight on the night of Wednesday, May 3rd, the Tax Administration said.
As of last week, 2.6 million taxpayers were yet to submit their tax returns.
New food price hikes around the corner?
Imported goods have become much more expensive due to the weak krone and high price growth in foreign countries. But Norwegian stores haven't increased prices on such items – yet.
According to experts, several imported foods, including chocolate, some seafood, half-baked products, and frozen pizzas, are now artificially cheap in Norwegian shops.
READ MORE: Could Norway's weak krone mean new food price hikes?
These foods have become much more expensive overall due to the weak krone and high price growth in the countries where they come from, but due to the "price wars" between Norwegian grocery chains – which started ahead of the Easter holidays – their current price in stores does not reflect this increase.
As special price offers are set to expire by the end of April, these prices will likely go up soon, food industry analyst Ivar Pettersen told newspaper VG.
According to Pettersen, the price hikes for many items could occur after May 1st, when supermarket Kiwi's price guarantee on 245 items expires.
State and municipal wage settlement finalised
The wage settlement for state employees in Norway was finalised on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, an agreement was also reached for workers in the municipalities.
As these negotiations progressed relatively smoothly, there was no talk of mediation or strikes.
The framework wage increase for state employees ended at 5.2 percent, while the one for municipal workers came out at 5.4 percent.
The unions that took part in the negotiations expressed their satisfaction with the results of the talks.
All state and municipality wage settlement negotiations were completed well before the negotiation deadline on the night of May 1st.
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