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If mediation is unsuccessful, nearly 4,000 bus drivers may go on strike this weekend.
NOTIFICATION STRIKE: If mediation is unsuccessful, all Oslo and Viken bus drivers will go on strike starting Sunday.
Frode Hansen, VG
Published:,
In the event of a strike, all Oslo and Viken bus drivers will be eliminated. According to Yrkestrafikkforbundet, drivers will go on strike from the start of working hours on Sunday if the mediation does not lead.
Yrkestrafikkforbundet is the association that organizes the most bus drivers in Norway and will eliminate 1888 bus drivers. Fellesforbundet, Jernbaneforbundet and Fagforbundet eliminate 1,869 drivers.
A total of 3,757 bus drivers will be eliminated if there is a strike.
Mediation begins next Friday and is due at midnight on Saturday, September 19.
– This applies to Ruter, Østfold and Brakar public transport. In addition, a possible strike also includes all express and turbus trips, but with the exception of the shuttle buses in Gardermoen, says chief negotiator Stein Guldbrandsen at the Union at E24.
The bus industry negotiates jointly for all unions and employers’ organizations with NHO and Spekter. The Fellesforbundet, Norsk Jernbaneforbund and HK in Norway are participating in the negotiations.
– There is much more than trifles to put into practice. We experience that we are very far away, says Guldbrandsen of the negotiations.
– Furiously far behind
Negotiations broke down in early September.
– When we break up, it’s because we don’t experience the other party meeting us on completely reasonable demands, but the ambition is, of course, to get a solution, he says.
The negotiator points out that an agreement has been reached for a regular bus, where the salary level is in line with the average salary of an industrial worker. He thinks the bus drivers are “furiously far behind.”
– Now we are between 91 and 92 percent, and then it is far from 100 percent, says Guldbrandsen at the Union.
Will consider escalation
Jane Brekkhus Sæthre of the Norwegian Railway Association believes that nothing can defend development as it is today. It points out that employees in this sector are lagging behind in salary evolution.
– The bus industry is an important part of the public transportation initiative, from making urban environment agreements to driving school districts. Employee pay and working conditions should reflect responsibility and help more young people choose the profession of driver, it says in a press release.
If mediation is unsuccessful, the union is clear that the strike could be much longer.
– We have now announced the first withdrawal. If we end up in a conflict, we must immediately consider escalation, says Guldbrandsen.
