– The mediator stated that the parties were so far apart that there was no basis for submitting a proposal that could be expected to be recommended by both parties, says mediator Carl Petter Martinsen at the Ombudsman. – Unfortunately, there was a breach of mediation. In our eyes, the reason for the breach was very high financial demands, says CEO Torbjørn Lothe of NHO Luftfart to NTB. He calls the wage demand from the aircraft technicians unrealistic. – The general supplement in the front subject was NOK 4 per hour, but the starting point for the aircraft technicians was a requirement of NOK 60 per hour. It is unrealistic in such a pressured industry as ours, says Lothe. The mediation ended at 3.50. Salary under pressure – We have unfortunately not been able to reach an agreement with NHO Luftfart. The mediation was broken and we are on strike, says NFO leader Jan Skogseth. Skogseth says in a press release on Saturday morning that the salary has been under pressure for so long that the aviation technician profession is no longer competitive. – We are in a situation where it is unacceptable with one salary supplement as the front subjects. The aviation technician profession must have a salary increase now. – There are only four schools in Norway with aeronautical lines, and the tragedy is that the school classes are not filled up. The Armed Forces has announced that they will need up to 300 aircraft technicians over the next 5 years, he continues. One in four on strike Both Norwegian, SAS and Widerøe will be affected by the strike, and several departures will be canceled. Initially, 31 aircraft technicians will go on strike from Saturday morning. But already on Monday, another 75 aircraft technicians will be taken out on strike. Thus, around a quarter of the aircraft technicians organized in the NFO will strike. NFO broke off the main negotiations with NHO Luftfart on 26 May and the settlement went to mediation. They then thought that the distance was too great and they expressed that NHO Luftfart “contributed little to further negotiations”. NFO leader Jan Skogseth told TV 2 on Friday night that their demands were threefold. – Trade union crushing – It is salaries, health-related demands for employees that take the heaviest shifts, and which members we have the right to negotiate for. The other party will remove the right to bargain for certain member groups that previously had this right. This is union crushing, said Skogseth. The Norwegian Aircraft Technician Organization has around 430 members in Norwegian, SAS, Widerøe, Babcock Scandinavian Engineering, Norse Atlantic Airways (Norse) and Kongsberg Aviation Maintenance Services (Kams). Babcock, Norse and Kams have not gone on strike, according to NFO.
ttn-69
Aircraft technicians go on strike
