After 18 hours of overtime mediation with the National Ombudsman, it was finally clear: The conflicts in Norwegian industry were too great to avoid a strike. On Monday, 1,422 members of Industri Energi around the country stopped work. Ten companies in seven municipalities have been affected by the extensive industrial strike. Here is the list of all the places affected by the strike: These companies are covered by the strike as of 15 August Ullensvang municipality: Boliden Odda AS (255 members) Sørfold municipality: Elkem ASA Salten Verk (169 members) Rana municipality: Elkem ASA Rana (89 members) Orkland municipality: Elkem ASA Thamshavn (131 members) Orkland municipality: Washington Mills AS (97 members) Sauda municipality: Eramet Norway AS Dept. Sauda (142 members) Sauda municipality: Aartun Transport Dept. Smelteverket AS (28 members) Kristiansand municipality: Elkem Carbon AS dept. Carbon (46 members) Kristiansand municipality: Glencore Nikkelverk AS (328 members) Heim municipality: Wacker Chemicals Norway AS (137 members) The parties disagree, among other things, about what rights the employees must have in local wage negotiations. 255 employees at Boliden in Odda have gone on strike in the electrochemical industry. Several have never gone on strike before. Photo: Tale Hauso / news Strikers for the first time At the Boliden zinc works in Odda, twelve strikers are sitting in yellow vests drinking coffee. Production at the zinc plant has been shut down this morning. 255 employees here alone are on strike. – We should have gone on strike a long time ago. In the end, there is a pain threshold when it comes to salary, and there I am now. This is simply embarrassing, says Kjetil Skjerven. He has worked at Boliden for 43 years, but this is the first time he has gone on strike. Kjetil Skjerven is on strike for the first time. Photo: Tale Hauso / news The willingness to strike is nevertheless strong among colleagues. – This is very important. I have worked in the industry for 14 years and the salary has been stable, says Lars Andre Måge. Boliden is a manufacturing company that exports to the steel industry in Europe. – This is the most serious situation that can hit a company like ours. Now the company is losing significant amounts, says Gard Folkvord, chief trustee at Boliden. – We have fallen behind because we have a negotiation system that does not work, says Folkvord. Gard Folkvord, chief trustee at Boliden, believes the situation is serious. Photo: Tale Hauso / news The system he refers to is that they must negotiate the main part of their wage increase locally, in the local companies. The association Industri Energi believes that these are not real negotiations. Hasn’t gone on strike for over 50 years At Eramet, best known as the smelter in Sauda, 142 have gone on strike. – We have two omnars to be driven down. So it will be gradual, so not everyone can go on strike immediately. The curtailment agreement I have runs over two days. This is to avoid damage to the equipment, says the chief steward for the Sauda factory workers association, Joachim Andersen. He says that they see a strike as necessary now, but that none of the employees actually want a strike. Joachim Andersen is the chief shop steward for the Sauda factory workers association and is on first strike duty outside the smelter. Photo: Thomas Halleland / news – We want it to be shown in the pay packets of the employees when the company is doing well. It is more than 50 years since the last strike at the smelter in Sauda. – In a way, it is a historic day, and I did not expect that there would be a strike, says Andersen. Employers are not aware that Industri Energi’s central demand is to strengthen local negotiations. They want the employees to have more rights in the negotiations, and point out that this has been a theme in the negotiations since 2016. – The situation has not improved, says the head of Industri Energi, Frode Alfheim, in a press release. Frode Alfheim, confederation leader in Industri Energi. Photo: Carina Johansen Industri Energi writes that employees have “stood the test” with their companies in demanding times. Among other things, they must have taken the initiative to zero-sum to save the companies’ competitiveness. The association believes that their members are not met with the same goodwill in good times. Stein Lier-Hansen is managing director of Norsk Industri. He says they cannot accept imposing on the companies “an annual risk for local actions”. Stein Lier-Hansen, managing director of Norsk Industri. Photo: Patrick da Silva Sæther / Patrick da Silva Sæther – Our companies do not recognize themselves in the portrayal of reality that the other party presents, says Lier-Hansen in a press release from Norsk Industri. At Boliden, the employer does not understand the description of local negotiations that do not work. – We feel that we have real local negotiations and a good relationship with our trade unions, says managing director at Boliden, Helene Seim. Managing director at Boliden, Helene Seim. Photo: Tale Hauso / news – We will stay as long as we have to – Our industry has historically good results, and we must be able to expect that we will get our share of this value creation, says Folkvord at Boliden. He receives support from Alfheim in the union, who are disappointed with the offer they received in mediation. Folkvord points out that “average industrial worker wages” used to be something you could measure yourself against. – When I was growing up, other occupational groups in the public sector demanded a salary level of the average industrial worker’s salary. No one can claim that anymore, because all these groups have passed us by, says Folkvord. He emphasizes that he hopes the strike will end as quickly as possible. – But then the employers must come forward with proposals that create movement in this stuck situation. Lars Andre Måge is one of the strike guards in Odda. Photo: Tale Hauso / news He is supported by colleague Måge. – Now it is time for wages to rise. We’ll stay here as long as we have to, says Måge.
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Norwegian Industry and Industrial Energy do not agree – 1,422 employees have been called out on industrial strike – news Vestland
