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The 3,800 drivers go on strike starting at six in the morning on Sunday.
Yrkestrafikkforbundet, Fellesforbundet, Norsk Jernbaneforbund and Fagforbundet believe that employers have been reluctant to comply with them.
– Unfortunately, we have had to go on strike, because the employer has not been willing to receive us at all, not for salary or other demands, says the union secretary in Fellesforbundet Dag Einar Sivertsen at the press conference on Sunday morning.
See the full press conference at the top of the case.
Sivertsen points out that the evolution of bus driver salaries has slowed down for several years.
– We have an agreement with the employer that bus drivers must have a salary equal to the industrial worker’s salary. The offer we received was in the opposite direction. It is a breach of promise.
In addition, Sivertsen points to another factor related to the strike.
– They did not want to reserve the time necessary for the security control. It can’t be something the bus driver does in his spare time, he says.
Sivertsen says they will ask the employer to think and come up with an acceptable offer, so the strike can end quickly.
– As the situation was, we had no other choice. We had to go on strike, he says.
Greater distance
Workers ‘organizations believe that the gap to industrial workers’ wages has grown ever greater in recent years.
Yrkestrafikkforbundet union leader Jim Klungnes believes employers have used the corona pandemic as a pretext in negotiations.
– The bus companies are not in crisis and almost no driver has been fired. However, drivers will have to settle once again for the crumbs. We are not in that, says Klungnes.
– Very high demands
– The employee side came to mediation with very high demands, which we unfortunately did not have a chance to meet, says CEO Jon H. Stordrange at NHO Transport.
He believes that fewer travelers and lower ticket revenues have led to a difficult and uncertain situation.
– The most important thing for us is to avoid layoffs, secure jobs and maintain good bus service for passengers. So we don’t have the opportunity to give more than other groups have received, says Stordrange.
– Distance too great
Ombudsman Mats Wilhelm Ruland says that the distance between the parties was so great that he was unable to present any proposed solution.
– There was some movement between the parties, but not enough to reach an agreement, he says.
Can be expanded
In the first strike, 3,800 bus drivers were removed in Oslo and Viken, of which about half are organized in the Professional Traffic Association.
If the conflict continues and escalates, nearly 12,000 bus drivers could go on strike across the country.
Major consequences
Ruter claims that the strike means that all city and regional buses in the Ruter area will be canceled. Buses to the Brakar and Østfold public transport are also affected. Brakar claims that some of the school kisses are kept.
Vy claims that all scheduled traffic and school transportation will stop. Also, the Vys bus for train services will be affected. For the Vy trains, a strike will also affect the Østfold line, the main line and the Drammen line, where there is work on Sunday morning and therefore alternative transport, Vy writes on its website.
End point in Østfold
Vy drivers use Østfold public transport, which means that all Østfold buses also stop. In that case, all public transport service will cease until the end of the strike. It also includes school buses, Østfold says in public transport.
Airport buses, as well as school buses and service lines in other parts of Viken, are also affected by the strike.
(© NTB / TV 2)
