On Thursday, hundreds of disgruntled farming employees stepped outside the Storting. The message was clear: They are not satisfied with the government’s proposal for the ground rent tax, also known as the salmon tax. – I fear that we will lose our workplace. That it will be shut down and moved abroad, instead of us actually processing the fish here. That’s what Tove Olsen says, who works at Lerøy Fossen in Western Norway. But it is not just her own workplace that she is worried about. – We live on a small island, and I’m afraid that this will mean a lot to everyone who lives here. I don’t think the government quite understands that. She has worked in the company for 24 years, and does not know what she will do if she loses her job. – This is the only job I’ve had. If it is shut down, then I cannot afford to have the house anymore, says Olsen. – I hope the government postpones the ground rent tax until next year, so that all parties can sit down and come to an agreement. That is what the Norwegian model is. Tove Olsen has worked with fish for 24 years, now she is afraid of losing her job and how it will affect her island community in Western Norway. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / news – They have gone too far She gets support from Kristian Flesvik Selbekk, who worked for Salmar. – It is not just us that is affected, but also the small local communities. It is important to preserve the communities on the coast, everything cannot be centralised. – How will a possible layoff affect you? – Then I will be left with a lot of debt, because I have just bought a house, says Selbekk. He believes it is important that the workers are also heard in the debate. – I believe that the salmon tax is idiotic. I understand what the government wants to achieve, but I think they have gone far too far. Kristian Flesvik Selbekk works at Salmar on a daily basis, and is now afraid he will lose his job. He thinks the salmon debate is completely idiotic. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / NRKK Kristian Flesvik Selbekk works daily at Salmar, and is now afraid he will lose his job. He believes the salmon debate is completely idiotic. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / news The unions have not concluded Despite several protests from the industry, Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum has been clear that the ground rent tax will be introduced from the first of January. Confederation leader of the Norwegian Industry and Leisure Workers’ Association (NNN), Anne Berit Aker Hansen, hopes, however, that the government will make some adjustments. – We believe that the proposal put forward will put jobs at risk, she says. – With the proposal that is now on the table, there is a great danger that we will end up being a supplier of raw materials instead of processing fish in Norway. According to Klassekampen, LO is in the process of making a turnaround from no to yes for the ground rent tax. This must be because certain special associations have now changed their position. – It is a completely normal hearing process that is going on now. Neither LO nor the union has reached a conclusion in that process. Then I register that there are a lot of inputs and plots in the media, I will take that into account for the time being, says Hansen to news. Confederation leader of the Norwegian Business and Leisure Workers’ Association, Anne Berit Aker Hansen, fears that jobs will be moved out of Norway. Photo: Ilja C. Hendel – Will be a pure NAV hell Salmar employees Adrian Nilsen Myhre and John Morten Venås had also turned up in the capital to express their dissatisfaction with the ground rent tax. – If our company loses a job, it will be difficult to get a new one, says Myhre. – It will be pure NAV hell then, I think, says Venås. They are both clear that they do not want the salmon tax, and fear that they will then have to move from Frøya. – We have lived here for quite a long time and created a life here. If we have to move, we have to start all over again, says Myhre. On Thursday, over 200 people demonstrated outside the Storting against the salmon tax. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / news On Thursday, over 200 people demonstrated outside the Storting against the salmon tax. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / news The government will strengthen the Havbruksfondet The proposal for land rent tax has sparked reactions among several mayors along the coast who fear that it will affect the local communities. While others have again accused the farming industry of spreading fear-mongering propaganda. On Thursday it became known that the government proposes to strengthen the Aquaculture Fund, which distributes money to farming municipalities, with an extra NOK 800 million this year. The extra allocation comes in connection with the new balancing of the state budget for 2022, writes Dagens Næringsliv. Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) says that the coastal municipalities will be left with more money. Photo: Aurora Berg / news – The coastal municipalities will be left with more money. That is why we are now putting in an extra NOK 800 million and increasing the municipalities’ share of the auction revenue, says Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp). The Aquaculture Fund distributes the municipal sector’s share of the income from growth in the farming industry and income from the tax on the production of salmon, trout etc. In 2020 and 2021, NOK 3.25 billion was distributed from the Aquaculture Fund to the coastal municipalities. This year and next year, the sum will be increased to 3.59 billion. Without the extra grant, the municipalities would have received less. – We can already ascertain that the host municipalities will come out better in 2022 and 2023 than they did in 2020 and 2021, despite the fact that the auctions produced slightly less income, says Fisheries Minister Bjørnar Skjæran (Ap).
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– I think the ground rent tax is idiotic – news Troms and Finnmark
