Hotel and restaurant strike spreads to Norwegian airports
Restaurant and hotel staff at airports in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim, Sandefjord and Kristianstad have joined the strike of hotel and restaurant workers in Norway, taking the total number of staff striking to 4,416 members across 331 companies, the United Federation of Trade Unions (Fellesforbundet) announced on Monday.
"There is no movement to be detected at NHO Reiseliv, which is why we are forced to target not only hotels, restaurants and catering, but also airports," union leader Christian Justnes said in a press release.
"We cannot agree to the discriminatory treatment of workers that NHO is proposing. Since last Saturday, we have been on strike together with our comrades in the cleaning industry. Then it will be clear to everyone who NHO is denying this right."
The strike will involve several café and restaurant chains at the airports as well as staff at airport branches of Radisson Blu, Radisson Red at Gardermoen and Quality Hotel Pond.
Swedish criminals permanently deported after less than 24 hours in Norway
Two convicted criminals from Sweden were stopped by Norwegian police in Oslo and permanently deported last month, less than a day after they crossed the border, Norwegian police said in a press release.
One man has previously been convicted of murder in Sweden. The other had been convicted of attempted murder.
"This is another clear example of deportation as a very effective measure to prevent and deter crime committed by foreign criminals in Norway," said Rune Solberg Swahn, head of the Joint Unit for Immigration and Administration (FUF) in the Oslo Police District.
"When foreign citizens with a serious criminal record come to Norway without a legitimate purpose, we must react quickly and consistently. It is about security, prevention and protecting society from crime."
Swahn told NRK that the black clothes and black gloves the men were wearing and the reasons they gave for their trip were deemed suspicious.
Statkraft to invest 80 billion kroner over the next ten years
Norway's state power company Statkraft has announced plans to invest around 80 billion kroner in upgrading and maintaining current hydroelectric power plants, and building some new hydroelectric power plants to make better use of the country's resources. This is up from the 44–67 billion the company said it would invest only two years ago.
"We will be among those who will invest the most on the Norwegian mainland in the coming years. Both because it is necessary, but also because it is important, both for Norway and Norwegian business," Pål Eitrheim, Executive Vice President for the Nordic Region at Statkraft, told NTB.
"More than half of the hydropower we produce today comes from power plants built before 1970. Many were built in the period 1920 to 1950. We have a power plant in Nore in Buskerud, which will be a hundred years old in two years."
About ten percent of the investment will go towards new onshore wind power.
Centre and Greens at odds on zero emission construction
Norway's Centre Party has come out against the government's proposal to push for zero emissions from public construction sites, one of the most important victories for Norway's Green Party in the revised spring budget.
"It is completely unrealistic, and it will be very expensive with a lot of bureaucracy," the party's leader, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, told NRK.
When the government published its budget proposal last week, Green Party fiscal policy spokesperson Ingrid Liland celebrated the face that the move, which will cut emissions by 400,000 tons by 2030 was "in the can" .
But shortly before negotiations have begun, the Centre Party has called for the proposal to be dropped.
"It will also squeeze out small contractors, so it cannot be implemented in the way that the government is now consulting on," Vedum added.
If passed, the measure will come into force on January 1st next year.
More men and young people positive to Norwegian EU membership
More men and young people are now positive towards Norwegian EU membership, according to a new poll conducted by Opinion on behalf of Dagsavisen.
Of those surveyed, 35 percent said they would vote in favour of Norwegian EU membership if there were a referendum tomorrow, which 49 percent said they would vote against. Sixteen percent answered “don’t know”.
Among men, the share who would vote yes has increased by 9 percentage points over the past year or so, while the share who would vote no has fallen by 11 percentage points.
Among young people under 30, support for yes increased by as much as 14 percentage points from March to May this year.
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