The longest teachers’ strike ever has long seemed deadlocked. In Bergen, teachers went on strike even before the summer. Also in autumn, many of the escalations have hit the city hard. Therefore, the students here are among the hardest hit in the country. Now county politician Marthe Hammer (SV) in Vestland is coming out hard against the employer organization KS. She thinks they haven’t done their job, when students in Vestland have been hit so hard by the teachers’ strike. – Am I really excited about having KS as an employer organization when it means that so many of our students end up not being able to go to school this autumn? she says. This is KS KS is the organization for the municipal sector. All Norwegian municipalities and county municipalities are members. Every year KS negotiates the annual collective agreements with the employee organizations on behalf of all municipalities and county municipalities, except Oslo. The central board of KS adopts a negotiating mandate for the collective agreement. Municipalities and county councils come to the fore with input. These are often treated politically. The main board of KS consists of 15 members, who take care of the day-to-day, political management of the organisation. The main board consists of politicians from different parties, from different parts of the country. The members are: Gunn Marit Helgesen (H), Jenny Føling (Sp), Terje Søviknes (Frp), Petter Sortland (Ap) and Hilde Onarheim (H), Sven Tore Løkslid (Ap), Odd Stangeland (Ap), Kari-Anne Opsal (Ap), Ådne Naper (SV), Arne Bergsvåg (Sp), Beate Marie Dahl Eide (Sp), Tore Opdal Hansen (H), Bjørn Alfred Ropstad (KrF), Gunhild Berge Stang (V). Source: KS – Should negotiate outside KS KS leads the salary negotiations every year on behalf of all municipalities and county municipalities in the country, except Oslo. – In Oslo they managed to come to an agreement. We should have a discussion on whether we should continue as a member of KS, or negotiate outside KS as Oslo does, Hammer believes. Vestland County Council pays NOK 19.6 million annually in dues to KS. Hammer believes that this year’s teachers’ strike shows that the gains are bad. – Will I be reimbursed for the subscription money, or is it not worth it? KS has sent the country’s students out to lack schooling. This is not an organization that manages to find good solutions, she believes. – Is it KS or the teachers’ organizations that have “sent the pupils home”? – Oslo municipality managed to come to an agreement. The students go to school there. Here in Bergen, the pupils have been very badly affected for several months. Then the question is whether KS is actually the best thing for Bergen and Vestland, when we see that we are the hardest hit in this strike. Gimle upvveksttun skole is among the schools that have been hardest hit during the ongoing teachers’ strike. There, 40 teachers already went on strike in June. Photo: Charlotte Harrvik Sanden / news Followed the municipalities’ wishes KS, on the other hand, believes that they have good political support for prioritizing the health and care sector in this year’s wage settlement. Chairman Gunn Marit Helgesen (H) in KS told news this week that in this year’s salary statement they prioritized the health and care sector, among other things, because the politicians in most municipalities indicated a desire to increase the night and weekend allowance in that sector. At the same time, KS says that this year they have also followed up on the municipalities’ desire to prioritize the recruitment of highly educated young people, including teachers. Hammer says that requests from Vestland to also give special priority to teachers were not taken into account by KS. – We have not been heard. Our recordings could have given KS room for action to find a solution with the teachers. We should discuss whether we are willing to let KS negotiate for us, when our suggestions are not accepted. Chairman Gunn Marit Helgesen (H) says that KS has prioritized the health and care sector in this year’s pay statement, because most municipalities have reported a desire for increased night and weekend supplements. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Wrong time County mayor Jon Askeland (Sp) in Vestland does not support the play. He also does not think that there is a majority for a declaration in the county council. – It is not the time to attack one’s own, when the parties are on a legal strike, he says. Although Oslo has chosen to negotiate outside the KS, he does not think that is the solution here. – Oslo is more than twice as big. It is a county and a municipality. It is not possible to compare, he believes. County mayor Jon Askeland (Sp) thinks it is wrong to attack one of the parties in the middle of a legal strike. Photo: Gorm Kallestad Reassessing membership Vestland County Council spends NOK 25 million annually on membership in a hundred different organisations. Regardless of the teachers’ strike, the county council has initiated a review of the criteria for which organizations they should be a member of. – Among other things, we will have a discussion about whether the KS contingent helps to support the community mission that Vestland County Municipality should have. Despite everything, things are going quite well for Oslo, which is not part of KS, says Hammer. Day-to-day leader Frode Kyrkjebø in KS Vestland does not comment on the situation that the county council should opt out of the organisation. – It is difficult to comment on the actions of a single politician. But KS’s negotiating mandate is based on political input from the whole of Norway. It was a clear signal from the elected representatives that the allowance for working at night and at the weekend had to be greatly increased. – Should the signal from the country’s second largest city weigh more heavily when KS is to prioritize in salary negotiations? – In practice, they weigh more heavily, because high population numbers give greater representation in the county-wise meetings that give input to KS. – What would a withdrawal from Vestland mean for KS? – I don’t want to advance it. KS must in any case contribute to an informed case resolution for the county politicians, says Kyrkjebø.
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– They have sent the pupils out to missing school attendance – news Vestland
