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Bus traffic in Oslo and Viken has stopped for a week. As of Saturday, only two counties will not be affected by the bus drivers’ strike. This is when the strike begins for all drivers in Vestland, Trøndelag, Rogaland and Finnmark, as well as for much of Agder, Møre og Romsdal and Nordland. A total of 8,300 bus drivers will be on strike and Tromsø will be the largest city in the country where there are scheduled buses.
There is no contact between the parties, Fellesforbundet and Yrkestrafikkforbundet confirm to NTB. Nor has it been during the week.
The four employee organizations Yrkestrafikkforbundet, Fellesforbundet, Jernbaneforbundet and Fagforbundet led organized bus drivers in Oslo and Viken on strike on Sunday 20 September after mediation with NHO Transport and Spekter was unsuccessful.
Threatens to Strike All Bus Drivers
The four unions threaten to dismiss all members, about 12,000 bus drivers across the country, if there is no movement.
– We don’t have a plan now, but it will be natural with a long-term escalation, says communications manager Tormund Hansen Skinnarmo of the Professional Traffic Association.
Striking bus drivers receive NOK 3,900 per week in support of the strike, with the exception of union drivers, who receive 70 percent of the regular wage, writes FriFagbevegelse.
The strike occurs because bus drivers believe that the wage gap between their occupational group and the industry has widened in recent years. Additionally, union leader Jørn Eggum places great emphasis on the working hours of drivers, who often work in so-called split shifts. This means that he is on a mid-day unpaid leave, which the union believes gives him up to 70 hours of work a week.
– 70-hour weeks are bad for health and give us tired bus drivers. When we also know that drivers are constantly pressed for time, and even have to go all day without breaks and without going to the bathroom, it is a recipe for less safety, both for drivers and for everyone else in traffic, he says. Eggum.
Implications for infection control and education
The Norwegian Board of Health announced on Monday that they are monitoring the strike among bus drivers to see if it means life and health are in danger. Crown infection rates in Oslo have risen sharply in recent weeks, and Oslo City Councilor Raymond Johansen (Labor Party) stated on Sunday that he was concerned about increasing congestion and infection in the capital. However, the morning rush hour in the Oslo area passed normally on Monday, without a notable increase in traffic on the roads or a notable increase in congestion on trams, subways and trains.
Eggum believes that the government should be careful that NHO plays a “crown card.”
– I also have a warning for the government and Erna Solberg. There is no doubt that NHO is trying to provoke a mandatory salary meeting based on the situation in Oslo. Here you must not be fooled. Bus drivers can’t lose their salary just because they have an important job, she says.
It’s not just the risk of infection that makes the strike challenging in everyday life. The education agency in Oslo has advised schools to reduce the number of absences, while the Rogaland county municipality will switch to digital teaching in its upper secondary schools in the event of a strike.
