Herman Bjørnson Hagen

foreignworkers@lomedia.no

After April 21, your pay could increase by up to 22,425 kroner. In their salary negotiations, LO, YS, and NHO agreed on this.

NHO - The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise - was negotiating on behalf of the employers. The employees were represented by LO and YS.

Starting on April 17, approximately 25,000 LO and YS members went on strike.

They were on strike for higher salaries in a dispute with NHO-represented employers. The strike lasted four days.

On April 20 the parties agreed that private-sector wages should increase by 5.2 per cent on average.

This implies that the yearly salary of private sector employees could increase by up to 22,425 kroner as of April 21.

Although this is the average increase, it may not apply to everyone. Some employees will be paid somewhat more than others.

This is all you need to know about how salary negotiations in the private sector unfolded.

Who negotiated?

The settlement between LO, YS and NHO marked the start of collective pay bargaining in Norway.

The parties were negotiating on behalf of 195,000 unionised private sector workers from the building and construction, service and cleaning, manufacturing, transportation, and hotel and restaurant sectors.

LO, YS, and NHO all agreed that salaries should rise by an average of 5.2 per cent. This is the sum of the national increase, local supplements, and bonuses.

Not all groups will receive local supplements or bonuses. This is why one of LO’s goals has been to negotiate a substantial national increase this year.

This is how much you will get

This is the increase that has already been secured at national level:

• Everyone’s hourly rate will increase by at least 7.50 kroner. That equates to 14,625 kroner per year, or 1218.75 kroner a month.

The lowest paid will receive an additional low-wage supplement on top of these 7.50 kroner.

This applies to employees in sectors where pay is less than 90% of the average industrial worker's salary. Workers earning less than 488,000 kroner each year, in other terms.

• Low-paid workers without local bargaining rights will receive an additional increase in their hourly pay of 4 kroner. This equates to 7800 kroner per year, or 650 kroner each month.

• Low-paid workers with local bargaining rights will receive an additional 3 kroner per hour. This equates to 5850 kroner per year, or 487.50 kroner each month.

Bus drivers will also be receiving a small supplement:

• Employees covered by the bus sector agreement (Bussbransjeavtalen) will be paid an additional 1 krone per hour. That is, 1950 kroner each year, or 162.50 per month. Furthermore, bus drivers received an additional rise of 4.50 kroner per hour starting April 1 of this year.

Further down the page, information on who will receive a low-wage supplement is provided.

The annual salary is calculated on the basis of a 1950-hour work year.

These additional supplements will only be paid to employees of companies with LO or YS collective agreements, although non-union employees of the same companies will often receive similar pay rises.

Local pay bargaining

Employees in most private-sector companies will begin local discussions at the company level now that national bargaining has concluded.

Local agreements will determine 1.7 percent of the 5.2 percent increase in average salary.

This means that the full amount of the growth in pay has not been secured for workers with the right to negotiate salaries at local level.

The local trade union and the employer negotiate how much salaries should rise in addition to the central supplements they have previously agreed to pay out during the local negotiations.

This year, a higher percentage was agreed at national level than would normally be the case, leaving less for local increases.

This means that four criteria will influence how much the firms are prepared to pay:

• The company’s financial position, productivity, prospects and competitiveness.

In other words: a successful business will be able to pay more in local supplements than a less successful business.

All pay rounds later this year will seek to secure pay increases of around 5.2 per cent.

The expectation is that pay increases in the local (municipal) sector will be slightly higher than 5.2 per cent.

These groups within LO will receive low-wage supplements

These groups will receive a low-salary supplement of 4 kroner per hour. This is in addition to the 7.50 kroner per hour rise that everyone will receive. The trade unions of the groups are shown in brackets

• Cleaners in the private sector (Arbeidsmandsforbundet – Norwegian Union of General Workers)

• Security guards (Arbeidsmandsforbundet – Norwegian Union of General Workers)

• Laundries and dry cleaners (Industri Energi)

• Textile, clothing and footwear industry (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Employees of bowling alleys, fitness centres, amusement parks and others (Arbeidsmandsforbundet – Norwegian Union of General Workers)

These groups will receive a low-salary supplement of 3 kroner:

• Bookbinders (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Printing and graphic design companies (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Packaging industry (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Shop assistants (HK - Union of Employees in Commerce and Offices)

• Hotels and restaurants (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Agriculture, fishing, forestry and other sectors (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Transportation companies in Norway (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Screen printers – ideation sketching, printing forms and others (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Environmental and recycling companies – waste management and other services (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Sheltered employment providers – Companies that qualify or adapt work for differently-abled persons (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Agriculture and horticulture (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Car hire companies (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Egg and poultry industry (NNN – Norwegian Union of Food, Beverage and Allied Workers)

• Bakers and confectioners (NNN – Norwegian Union of Food, Beverage and Allied Workers)

• Catering services for oilfield workers – catering personnel, cooks, cleaners etc. (Fellesforbundet – United Federation of Trade Unions)

• Glass and ceramics industry (Industri Energi)

• Ski centres (Arbeidsmandsforbundet – Norwegian Union of General Workers)

• Service and maintenance (Arbeidsmandsforbundet – Norwegian Union of General Workers)

• Veterinary nurses and veterinary clinic assistants (Fagforbundet – Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees)

• Private kindergartens (Fagforbundet – Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees)

The following groups within the Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS) will receive low-salary supplements

These groups will receive a low-salary supplement of 4 kroner:

• Security guards (Parat)

• Textile, clothing and footwear industry (YS – Confederation of Vocational Unions)

• Cleaners in the private sector (Parat)

The following groups will receive a low-salary supplement of 3 kroner:

• Hotel and restaurant workers (Parat)

• Transportation companies in Norway (YS – Confederation of Vocational Unions)

• Environmental and recycling companies – waste management and other services (YS – Confederation of Vocational Unions)

• Service and maintenance providers

• Printing and graphic design companies

Translated by Robert Lovering 

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