– Piss people off – E24

A review of E24’s annual reports shows that executive salaries at seven of the bus industry’s largest companies totaled close to NOK 20 million last year.

The salary increase for one of the highest paid senior managers, Vy buss CEO Ole Engebret Haugen, was 12.76 percent from 2018 to 2019. His annual salary included a bonus of 443,000 kroner, in addition to the basic salary of 2.7 million. NOK.

By comparison, pay growth for bus drivers has been 3.63 percent since 2017, according to the Professional Traffic Association.

– What causes bus drivers is that directors have allocated between 300 and 400,000 crowns in salary supplements per year in recent years. It is an annual salary for a bus driver. At the same time, bus drivers “gave” NOK 2,500 in pay increases in 2018. That infuriates people, says the Jim Klungnes Professional Traffic Association, who is also a bus driver.

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– I give up

Fellesforbundet leader Jørn Eggum says it’s a huge waste of companies’ money.

– The figures deprive businessmen of all credibility when they ask for moderation. It bothers me when the double standard shows its true face in the sense that some managers have received a bonus and a raise corresponding to the annual salary of a bus driver and then urge drivers to show restraint.

Eggum also highlights the statements of the leader of NHO Transport on concerns about the finances of the companies.

– They say they fear that a living wage and the costs of a safe workplace for the country’s bus drivers will affect passengers. Then we see that there are almost no top managers in bus companies that earn less than 2.5 million, some earn as much as 3.7 million.

E24 has tried repeatedly on Tuesday to contact the companies without success. Neither Ruter nor Boreal want to comment on the case. So far, Vy has not responded to E24’s inquiries.

Atle Rønning, CEO of Norgesbuss, says he does not want to comment on other companies, but claims that he lost NOK 36,000 from 2018 to 2019.

– It is not possible to compare

Jon H. Stordrange at NHO Transport explains that it is the board that determines the CEO’s salary.

– It is determined based on the results, or the salaries of other managers in similar positions and with the same size and complexity in the company.

When asked how a salary growth gap of about 10 percent between top managers and bus drivers can be defended, Stordrange responds that it is not possible to compare.

– There are so many differences from year to year, and there are so many factors. It is not possible to compare salaries.

To Eggum’s statements about managers’ salaries, Stordrange responds that salary levels vary from company to company and that it is based on what similar managers have received.

– This is how the labor market works, he adds.

– The distance has become completely absurd

Klungenes at Yrkestrafikkforbundet says it has seen a sad development in the industry.

– There has been a growing separation between managers and bus drivers. Before, managers and drivers sat in the same break room and the pay gaps weren’t huge. Now the management sits in their own buildings and knows very little about what daily life is like for a bus driver. They have minutes and crowns and øre to save as much as possible. Every savings they find goes beyond the drivers. At the same time, the distance has become completely absurd when it comes to paying.

You think you have to pay a decent salary if you want to hire more bus drivers.

– Today it is almost impossible to hire anyone, there is a shortage of 1,000 drivers a year and the average age far exceeds 50 years, he says, adding:

– Salary is important, NHO says, when hiring managers. You need the right people. This is exactly the case for bus drivers.

It means the case is painted black

The NHO Transportation Manager says bus drivers get a decent salary.

– 450,000 on average is a good starting point. We have offered good price growth, as have other groups of industrial workers and public employees. The general requirement is that they have better purchasing power, and they get it with what we have offered, says Stordrange.

In addition, he believes that unions give the wrong idea of ​​what the salary level is.

– We believe that workers’ organizations are painting the case black from the driver’s side of the bus. When the unions say that the starting salary is 340,000, it is wrong, it is 355,000 and it is completely without supplements or seniority.

– But you say that the average salary is 450,000 crowns, does that include a supplement for weekend shifts and a handicap supplement for working in the afternoon and evening?

– Yes, an average salary of 452,000 includes all supplements in relation to seniority and competence, as well as what we call supplements for inconvenience. That doesn’t include overtime, he explains.