– Many serious things that can happen there – VG

Another 500 guards will go on strike on Wednesday, after a nearly four-week strike period for the guards. It is mainly the area guards in shopping malls, receptions and train stations in eastern Norway who are affected.

For Oslo Central Station, this means that the station is no longer protected by security guards. Bane Nor hopes they don’t have to close the station.

– We make a continuous evaluation of what is safest and if we can keep the station open. In the final analysis, we have to close, but it is far from over. We must first see if there are incidents that we cannot resolve, says Knut Ø Vindy Ruud Johansen, station manager at Bane Nor Eiendom.

More than 2000 strikes

It was after an interruption in wage negotiations between the employers’ organization NHO Service and the workers’ organizations Parat and the Norwegian Workers’ Union on 16 September that the security guards went on strike.

A total of more than 2,000 guards from both organizations are now on strike.

E24 +: – Life and health are threatened in the guard strike.

The head of negotiations in Parat, Lars-Petter Larsen, hopes that the wage dispute can be resolved in negotiations with the Ombudsman next Friday. The two parties have not yet reached an agreement on the supplement for night and weekend guards.

– The security industry works mainly at night and on weekends. They have the lowest night and weekend supplement of any collective agreement in Norway that I know of, and it hasn’t been adjusted in ten years, Larsen says.

Today, the guards receive an hourly supplement of 26 crowns at night and 46 crowns at the weekend. It is lower than the collective agreement for store employees, who have the same basic salary as security guards.

Police alerted

While the guards are on strike, many shops, hotels and other operational buildings are left without guards. Ruud Johansen at Bane Nor says they will still be staffed in the most critical areas, such as fire and evacuation.

– We want a very small number of security guards. Store employees are informed and aware that we have fewer staff. They know it will take longer to get an answer, says the station manager.

He points out that the police have been notified and that it is they who must be contacted in the extreme consequence.

– Oslo S is a special place with many people. A lot of serious things can happen there, from robberies to fights, and people needing help of various kinds.

Ruud Johansen still believes that there is still no reason to fear.

– We have no indication that this should not go well, now we have fewer staff in many places.

– Stupid hit

With the slogan «What do we want? More money. When do we want it? A month ago »120 guards gathered outside NHO on Tuesday to mark another week of strike.

Hege Birkeland has worked as a security guard for six years. Now you have grown tired of low pay from a stressful job at bad times.

– No two days of work are exactly the same as pesos. But when it comes to salary, it’s been exactly the same since I started, says Birkeland.

It is supported by a shop steward in Parat, Ståle Raustøl.

– This is a silly hit. It is silly that the employer does not understand that we want extra pay per night and weekend. We will uphold our demands and fight.

Anne-Cecilie Kaltenborn, CEO of NHO Service og Handel, does not wish to comment further on the conflict.

– What we are concerned about is sitting down with the other party and finding a solution. We have said it for a long time. We believe that this is the best way to resolve this conflict.