– We are looking forward to the meeting with the mediator. There, we will help to find a solution to the collective agreement which means that the teachers do not continue to fall behind in salary development, says Steffen Handal in an e-mail to NTB before the meeting. The head of the Education Association Steffen Handal says he will help find a solution to the teachers’ strike during the meeting with the National Ombudsman on Saturday. Photo: Hanna Johre / NTB At 10 o’clock on Saturday he met with his counterpart KS and the two other teachers’ organizations the Norwegian Association of Lecturers and the National Association of Schools at the National Ombudsman. – We are only here to find a solution, said a tight-lipped working life director Tor Arne Gangsø in KS to TV 2 on the way to the meeting. – Deadlocked situation Also on Sunday last week, the parties met at the National Ombudsman, but then the Education Association left the meeting after two hours. It was after a meeting with Education Minister Tonje Brenna (Ap) on Friday afternoon that national mediator Mats Ruland called the parties in for talks on Saturday. Work life director Tor Arne Gangsø in KS was tight-lipped before the meeting with the other parties in the teacher conflict at the Ombudsman’s office in Oslo on Saturday, but said that they want to find a solution Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB – It is a deadlocked situation, and we will probably keep for a long time today, Ruland told NTB on the way to the meeting. He had with him a bag of balls bought at Narvesen to help lighten the mood. Took a break After an hour and a half, the parties left the meeting, but with an agreement to meet again later in the day. – We are still talking together, and as long as we sit together, then there is hope, said Steffen Handal, head of the Education Association, to news on the way out at 11.30. All three teachers’ organizations Education Association, Norwegian Teachers’ Association and Schools’ National Association left the meeting, while KS from the employer’s side remained present. – Everything has to be in place before we can take a final position, said Handal. – We are a process, is all confederation leader Mette Walker in the Schools’ National Confederation wanted to say on the way out. Escalation on Wednesday He will not give an estimate of how long the meeting may take. The Education Association announced on Friday that they will take 300 new teachers out on strike from Wednesday next week. This will increase the number of striking teachers to around 8,450. In Bergen, an exemption from the strike has been applied for at eight schools. The Education Association is now asking the county to submit an application for each individual teacher to whom the dispensation will apply. The teachers’ strike has lasted since 8 June. In addition to the Education Association, the National Association of Schools has withdrawn 107 members and the Norwegian Teachers’ Association 89 members on strike. (© NTB)
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