Equal pay for equal work should perhaps be a matter of course in 2023, don’t you think? It is not. According to the Norwegian Nurses Association, Porsgrunn and Tromsø are among the first municipalities in the country to have achieved this. Heads of departments in nursing homes and in home services now receive the same salary as heads of departments at the same level elsewhere in the municipality. Sykepleien.no mentioned the case first. Satisfied with salary jump Monica Hem is one of the around 40 department heads in the health sector who are getting a salary jump. She is a former shop steward and has been involved in the fight for equal pay. – I am very satisfied that the employer values managers in nursing homes and home care as highly as in the rest of the municipality. Siri Sørli, chief shop steward for NSF in Porsgrunn and department manager Monica Hem. Photo: Siri Sørli – It was so bad 14 years ago, Siri Sørli discovered that the salaries of managers in the health sector were not in line with other managers at the same level in the municipality. Sørli is the main shop steward for the nurses in Porsgrunn. A female manager in the health sector, with responsibility for 150–200 employees, earned less than a male manager in the municipality, who ran a camp school with six employees, she says. – It was so bad. I didn’t understand why no one had done anything about it before, she says. Siri Sørli, chief shop steward for the Norwegian Nurses’ Association in Porsgrunn. Photo: Privat Sørli says it has been hard work, especially with changing attitudes. The differences are due to the fact that it is a female-dominated profession, she believes. – It is not a deliberate discrimination by the employer. There are old traditions that have not been cleaned up until now. It was high time. – Proud and relieved Two years in a row, the department managers have received a pay rise of over 7 per cent to cover the large pay gap. – That says a bit. These are quite large sums, says Sørli. In comparison, frontline subjects received 5.2 per cent this year. Sørli is happy with what they have now achieved. – I am very proud and relieved about that. But it is something that should have been a matter of course, she says. – If you do a job of the same scope, at the same management level in the municipality, perhaps more challenging than many others with many part-time employees and working around the clock, then of course you should have the right salary for it. – Uniquely the Nurses’ Association praises its shop stewards in Porsgrunn for what they have achieved. They are in a small company. – This is unique. Unfortunately, says Lill Sverresdatter Larsen, union leader of the Norwegian Nurses Association (NSF). Lill Sverresdatter Larsen is the union leader of the Norwegian Nurses Association (NSF). Photo: SUNNIVA TONSBERG GASKI Porsgrunn and Tromsø are among the few that have managed to give managers equal pay for equal work, she says. She praises the shop stewards in Porsgrunn, who have had the courage to weather the storm. – It is tough to stand in such a fight over many years. – It says something about a lack of appreciation and understanding of responsibility and burden within our sector. – But if you have a higher education, shouldn’t you get a higher salary for it? – Regardless of whether the nurse has taken management training, economics or law afterwards, which gives a higher education than some in the male-dominated sector, they are still paid less because they have nursing as their basic education. – That is what is completely wrong. – A victory Porsgrunn municipality had to step up a bit to make it happen, explains councilor Rose-Marie Christiansen. – This has been a clear goal over several years. They have tried to take off strongly every single year, and it was only this year that we managed to do it. I think that is very good. CHEERING FOR EQUAL PAY: Rose-Marie Christiansen is a councilor in Porsgrunn. She thinks there should be harmonized pay for equal work. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news Christiansen thinks the salary should correspond to the type of tasks one has, not whether it is a female-dominated or male-dominated profession. – As the nursing profession is a female-dominated profession, it is also a victory for the women’s struggle, she says. – Shouldn’t this be a matter of course, long before 2023? – Yes, I completely agree with that. Now that Porsgrunn is on target, the councilor believes that other municipalities are feeling pressure to achieve the same. Hoping for a contagion effect The Equality Ombudsman thinks it is good that the municipality ensures equal pay for work of equal value. – This shows that the municipality values managers in typical female occupations and that it is possible to do something concrete, says senior advisor Ann-Helen Rykkje Hopland. She hopes municipalities in the rest of the country will be inspired. – We hope this can have a contagion effect on other municipalities.
ttn-69
Nurses now receive equal pay for equal work: – This is unique, unfortunately
