You need to know this about the bus strike

Starting Saturday morning, all buses will be in the Bergen area and most of them in the rest of western Norway.

Everything now indicates that there is a bus strike in western Norway since Saturday morning.

Then the strike in the bus industry intensifies with more than 4,500 new bus drivers on Saturday. So nearly 8,500 bus drivers across the country will be on strike.

No negotiations

There is no contact between the parties, both Fellesforbundet and Yrkestrafikkforbundet confirmed to NTB on Friday night. 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.

The strike now extends to all drivers in Vestland, Trøndelag, Rogaland and Finnmark, as well as much of Agder, Møre og Romsdal and Nordland.

– Bus drivers have very demanding working hours, wages are low, safety is threatened and we are concerned about the future of this important profession. That is why we are now taking more people to strike, says Fellesforbundet leader Jørn Eggum.

The night buses run

The strike applies from Saturday morning at 05.

During the bus strike, there will be no departures with Skyss buses in the Bergen area (south Bergen, city center Bergen, north Bergen, west and Nordhordland) from Saturday morning inclusive, reports Skyss.

In the rest of western Norway, there will be some unique trips in some areas of the route. Here you will find the list of these outings, which are mostly school routes in the old Sogn og Fjordane.

The coastal bus between Bergen and Stavanger is also affected by the strike.

The strike will not affect the Bybanen, Vys train departures, or the ferry or boat routes.

You can get a refund

Do you have period cards that you cannot use during the strike? Then you can get a refund of some money, advises Skyss.

– We do it in the same way as during the closing of the crown in March, which we open to return the season tickets if the people want it. Then they should contact us, says Ingrid Dreyer at Skyss.

On the other hand, the travel guarantee does not apply, that is, a refund for alternative transport when the bus does not arrive.

“In accordance with the rules of the game that apply to legal labor disputes, Skyss / Kringom does not take compensatory measures to remedy the consequences of the strike,” the press release said.

The digital route information in the app and the real-time dashboards will also not update with the set outputs.

“But we will post general information about the strike on all of our channels,” says Skyss.

– Travel as little as possible

Light rail, trains, speedboats, and ferries will operate as usual. Many have expressed concern about the risk of infection on other public transport.

Keolis Norway director Gry Miriam Olsen said earlier this week that Bybanen does not have the ability to take care of everyone who otherwise takes the same bus in the corridor.

– Infection control measures from a meter away and the encouragement to bandage up in case of congestion still apply, he said, encouraging people to take responsibility.

On Friday, Skyss asks people to travel as little as possible during the period when there is a strike.

– We simply encourage people to avoid public transport, said Skyss Director Målfrid Vik Sønstabø earlier this week.

On Friday, Skyss reminds again that it is recommended to wear a mask in Bybanen when it is not possible to maintain a distance of one meter and asks people not to use the track if they can avoid it.

– Reason for concern

So far, it has been Oslo and Viken who have been affected by the bus strike. There are several alternatives to the bus.

– It is a legal strike, so we just have to respect it and relate to it. But there is clearly cause for concern, Vestland County Mayor Jon Askeland (Sp) said earlier this week.

He noted that buses make up about 80 percent of public transportation in the county. Light rail, which probably won’t go on strike in the first instance, accounts for only 17-18 percent and has only one line.

– We are therefore even more vulnerable than Oslo in a bus strike. There they have the subway, the tram and the train, he says.

CORRECTION: The first version of this article stated that period cards will not be refunded. Skyss claims they will be opened for a refund if customers contact them. The correction was made on September 25 at 6:43 p.m.