COVID-19, Municipal The | Therefore, all public employees must receive zero in the salary settlement for the 2020 crown year.

The Norwegian economy is on its way to difficult times, but the Norwegian municipality is demanding more money and will continue as nothing has happened.

“They are forcing cuts in social assistance,” said Oslo City Council leader Raymond Johansen in response to the proposed revision of the national budget.

He is the same person who a few weeks ago would not fire a single member of the municipality’s staff, apparently because he would transfer the costs to the state.

Now the Oslo municipality is controlling the deficit. Actually, that means they spend more money than they have, rather than nutrition by industry.

And here is the bottom line: No Norwegian private company is compensated for everything it loses. Most people, like the Hurtigruten, feel that the alleged spatial support schemes do not or only partially affect.

The result is thousands of layoffs, more than 400,000 temporary unemployed and concerns in family economies across the country. People have to save money, companies have to pinch where they can.

In the revised budget, municipalities receive NOK 10.8 billion in emergency funds. Of this, NOK 5.5 billion is more than the projected loss of additional income and expense. In my opinion, municipalities and public employees at the back of the queue represent worthy needs at the moment.

Many municipalities have shot themselves in the foot. Among them are cabin towns that drove away winter tourists and experienced billions in local food sales and services. It was panic, unnecessary and costly, and now comes the financial consequences.

Oslo went through a short process and closed all restaurants because some bars were not serious about closing. Thousands of restaurant employees were directly unemployed, sales disappeared and, in the next half, income to the city of Oslo.

And when it was to open again, the municipality dragged its legs back and made it worse for employees, for restaurant owners, and in the next shift for the municipal treasury.

To be brutal: With relatively few admissions for covid-19, it has (fortunately) also not become one of the anticipated enormous workloads for healthcare workers. There are reports from other hospital wards that they went down the middle of the machine, and doctors complain of little to do.

But of course: Of course, for teachers, childcare and many healthcare workers, it has been a difficult time with concerns and changes, whether they work in the public or private sector. All glory to them!

The point is that counties and municipalities are more than nurses and health. There are municipal bureaucracies, well-paid political leaders, a group of consultants ($ 2.3 billion in consulting in the Oslo municipality, for example). When private companies sit still for eight weeks, there is reason to believe that the workload has decreased correspondingly in some of the municipal service agencies. But we don’t see them, because they are in the home office.

Let’s look at the numbers:

• From 2015 to 2019, the municipal operating expenses increased from NOK 389 to NOK 476 billion.
• In other words, without significantly more inhabitants, spending increased by NOK 87 billion over four years.

So how is it in Oslo compared to the rest of the Norwegian municipality?

From 2015 to 2019, operating expenses in Oslo increased from NOK 51.2 to NOK 64.4 billion. This represents a growth in expenses of 26 percent in four years., and clearly higher than the rest of the municipalities, which has increased costs by 22 percent.

Now, spending growth is fine if municipalities can afford it, and it really provides better services for citizens. Good pension plans are fine, too, but not as good if they are paid by taxpayers who have received poorer pension plans. Then it becomes unfair (Oslo has 71.5 billion in pension obligations to its employees, according to Statistics Norway statistics).

What is the solution?

Like all private companies, municipalities must also prepare for poorer times. This means that they have to go through the municipal budgets with a magnifying glass and find the costs that they can reduce. With almost $ 500 billion to take, that shouldn’t be impossible.

When private companies reduce costs and reduce the number of employees, it is fair and reasonable for the public sector to do the same. And when private employees are laid off or get zero and nothing on payroll, then there must be justice here, too.

Here’s a suggestion: In 2019, Norwegian municipalities had payroll costs of NOK 231 billion, while Oslo’s share was NOK 24.8 billion, according to Statistics Norway.

Before the crown dreamed and budgeted with salary growth, but this is a cost that should be reduced this year. When the public sector has no layoffs or layoffs, and employees benefit from extremely low interest rates, there should be no settlement in the public sector, including employees, managers, and politicians. A secure job is luxury in these times of coronation.

This proposal saves the NOK municipality-Norway from 5-6 billion in annual expenses, while Oslo’s share is over half a billion.

My suggestion is that the money be allocated to summer school.

P.S! What do you mean? Is it time for public employees to take their share of the benefits by facing wage deals this year, or should they get higher wages? Write a reader letter!