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Nurses received a 1.7 percent pay increase in this year’s pay settlement. It was so small that the board of the Norwegian Nurses Association decided that the result should be sent to a referendum among the members. Today it became known what the members voted for:
– 95 percent of the members who voted said no. This means that we have rejected the solution that was negotiated. So we move on to mediation to get a better offer that is better for recruiting, mobilizing and retaining the vital skills nurses have, says Norwegian Nurses Association leader Lill Sverresdatter Larsen, NSF leader, to NRK.
– In the worst case, there may be a strike. How safe is it during a pandemic?
– The strike is the tool that every employee organization has. This also applies to nurses. We expect the employer to be responsible for both offers and whatever is necessary to reduce the risk of a strike, so we also promise to be responsible in the event of a strike, says Larsen.
– Critical deficiency
Larsen notes that 3 out of 4 mayors in municipalities across the country describe nurses as the most difficult task force to hire.
– There is a critical shortage across the country. The profile in this settlement does not contribute to recruiting or retaining vital competence, he says.
The union leader believes that the corona pandemic has demonstrated the socially critical situation we find ourselves in when we lack nurses.
– We lack between 5 and 6000 nurses. Over the next 15 years, we will be short of 30,000 nurses. We must have measures now to acquire the competence we need.
1.7 percent salary increase
Both the nurses of the Oslo municipality and the nurses of the rest of the municipalities of the country received a salary increase of 1.7 percent.
It was so small that the board of the Norwegian Nurses Association decided that the result should be sent to a referendum among the members.
At 12 o’clock today, it became clear that the members of the Norwegian Nurses Association do not accept the outcome of salary negotiations with KS.
The deadline for members to vote expired on Thursday, while the deadline for the Nurses Association board to respond to KS on whether to accept the outcome of the negotiations was today.
