– One of the most difficult mediations this year – news Vestland

There will be no strike among the aircraft technicians. – We have reached the goal, which I am very happy about, says national mediator Mats Wilhelm Ruland to news. NHO aviation also confirms the agreement. The deadline for reaching an agreement expired at midnight, but the mediation continued overtime at the Riksmekleren for several hours. – This is one of the most difficult mediations we have had this year. It is extra good to reach the finish line in such a conflict, says Ruland. He does not want to say anything more about what has been difficult. – But I think the parties are very satisfied with the result we have reached, says the national mediator. This is confirmed by Erik Lahnstein, CEO of NHO Luftfart. – It is an agreement that both parties can live with, and which does not challenge the Norwegian frontline model. We are very happy about that. news has contacted the Norwegian Aviation Engineer Organization (NFO), but has not received a reply. Could have been a strike from Friday There was a breakdown in the wage negotiations in May. Had the parties not agreed now, there would have been a strike from Friday morning. In that case, it could affect large numbers of travellers, as the summer holidays for many school pupils start this weekend. According to figures from Avinor, as many as 1.8 million travelers will pass through the four largest airports in Norway in the next two weeks. The strike would affect maintenance and repairs on aircraft from both SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe. – We are very happy that we avoided a strike. And that thousands of passengers are not affected by irregularities in aviation now that we are heading into the summer holidays, says Lahnstein. In recent weeks, several strikes in aviation have been averted. Most recently among the Norwegian pilots on Thursday morning. Aircraft with faults may be grounded for the weekend. Photo: NTB It could have been chaos NHH professor Frode Steen believes the passengers would quickly feel the consequences of a strike among aircraft technicians. NHH professor Frode Steen believes the passengers will notice the consequences of a strike. Photo: Hallvard Lyssand / NHH He points out that there are strict requirements for the aircraft and safety. And that people who are at work cannot do the work for the striking aircraft technicians. – You can compare this to a car. If you get a red warning light in your dashboard, you can think that “yes, I can wait and take it to the next service”. But you can’t do that with a plane, it has to be put directly on the ground, he explains. It does not help that the mediation takes place just before the busy summer season begins. – The capacity of the aircraft technicians is already maximized, believes Steen. At the same time, the economics professor believes that the airlines have little resources to draw on, and that a strike would therefore not be very long-lasting. Many people go to warmer regions during their holidays. Photo: Petter Strøm / news Crushing calm at the airlines NFO announced the resignation of 30 members, out of a total of 480 flight technicians in Norway. In the days and hours before the agreement, the airlines were not particularly concerned about chaos at the airports. At Bergen Airport Flesland, it was planned that six aircraft technicians from Widerøe Technical Services should go on strike. The information board at Flesland in Bergen. Photo: Stian Sørum Røkenes / news – We are planning for normal operation. Should there be some operational disruptions, affected passengers will be contacted, said communications advisor in Widerøe, Lina Lindegaard Carlsen, to news. Press manager at SAS, Joachim Sponheim, wrote in a text message that a strike would have limited effect on air traffic. Norwegian stated on Friday to NTB that it was too early to say anything about possible consequences. Aircraft technicians at the airport in the capital could also be taken out of work on Friday. Photo: Torbjørn Brovold / news Steep fronts between the parties earlier It was reported that there was relatively little distance between the parties after the wage negotiations in May. However, the distance must be large when it comes to questions about the arrangement of work and leisure for the technicians. The aircraft technicians last went on strike in the summer of 2022. NHO Luftfart is retrieving a move from that time, and has announced layoffs in the air ambulance service, a so-called lockout. On Monday, NFO came out strongly against this. They call it an attempt at “union-busting”, where the employers’ organization forces a forced wage board by affecting life and health. NFO claimed in a press release that the air ambulance technicians are not initially part of the strike, precisely to prevent lives and health from being at stake. Archive image of aircraft technicians in Tromsø. Photo: Jørn Inge Johansen / news The parties did not want to comment on the case to news on Thursday while the mediation was ongoing. NHO Luftfart referred to the answers they had given to Dagbladet before the mediation started. There they rejected that the air ambulance technicians were not part of the original strike, or that it is abnormal to go to a lockout. Published 20.06.2024, at 17.01 Updated 21.06.2024, at 12.33



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