– When we now have a framework of 5.2 per cent, we must have higher wage growth than that, says Mette Nord. She is the leader of Fagforbundet, the country’s largest employee organization with 400,000 of LO’s 970,000 members. After the frontline this week came to an agreement on a framework for the pay week in the private sector, it is now municipal and state employees’ turn to negotiate on pay. – If the municipal sector lags behind even more, it will be more difficult to recruit, says Mette Nord of the Trade Union. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news With a salary arrears for its members, Nord does not rule out a strike to ensure success. – Municipal employees must have the same share of the economic development as the rest of the country, she says to news. On the other side of the negotiating table sits KS. The municipal sector’s organization negotiates on behalf of all the country’s municipalities and county municipalities, with the exception of Oslo, which has its own tariff area. Negotiator Tor Arne Gangsø says the municipalities are often at odds when it comes to financial priorities such as wages. – We need qualified labour, but the municipalities must also be able to finance it, he says. A similar framework of 5.2 per cent in the KS settlement will cost the municipalities in excess of NOK 9.1 billion, KS’s calculations show. Every 0.1 percentage point will cost an additional NOK 250 million. Tor Arne Gangsø is head of negotiations for the municipalities in the wage settlement. Photo: news / news – We want everyone to get a good settlement, but no one wants higher price increases than necessary. Nor that Norges Bank set the policy rate higher than necessary. The trade union says the municipalities have no other choice but to give the municipal employees a good enough statement. – As the population develops, there are more and more people who need services in the municipalities, and then you have to have personnel to deliver them. Therefore, the municipal sector needs a somewhat higher framework, says Nord. The nurses will demand more The Norwegian Nurses’ Association (NSF) is not satisfied with the limit of 5.2 per cent either. The trade union has around 125,000 members, who work both in state hospitals and in the municipalities. – We expect a higher framework for our members. Our members have essential skills, but it is in our professional group that there is the biggest shortage of people, says manager Lill Sverresdatter Larsen. In contrast to the private sector, the public sector saves if the employees go on strike. – It is not a good remedy for us, but it is what we have, says Lill Sverresdatter Larsen. Photo: Rune Stoltz Bertinussen / NTB Sverresdatter Larsen says it is not inconceivable that the nurses will go on strike this spring. – We always prepare for strikes, which is the tool we have. But we go into the negotiations with the hope of avoiding that. Adopted wage week In February, LO adopted its starting point for the wage settlement. This led to the four-day strike this week. At the same time, LO decided that the municipalities should get more than what was finally awarded in the frontline: – This year, the employees in the municipalities must be better assured. It cannot be the case that groups of employees in the private sector leave year after year. It increases the differences in society, has consequences for the pay gap between women and men, and undermines the front-line vocational model, says the LO statement. Around 25,000 employees in the private sector went on strike this week. The negotiations landed with a framework of 5.2 per cent in the pay week. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB The negotiations in the municipal settlement start on Thursday 27 April at 12 noon. The settlement takes place in the so-called KS area, and includes, among other things, teachers, health professionals and nurses who are employed in the municipalities. As early as Monday, the Norwegian Nurses’ Association will start preliminary negotiations with the employer organization Spekter.
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Willing to strike to get more than the front subject – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
