Record Guard Strike Intensifies – VG

The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (NAF) announced on Monday that it will eliminate another 85 guards, mainly on helipads and on the companies’ own exchanges. Equinor has already moved helicopter traffic from Brønnøysund to Kristiansund and now, as the strike intensifies, it will make more transfers at various helicopter bases.

– This is a historically long strike and the parties clash, says the union secretary at NAF, Terje Mikkelsen, to VG.

– Has been delayed aft

Wednesday marks 10 weeks since the strike began on September 16. On November 2, the strike was against the Parat guards, who reached an agreement with NHO Service and Trade, but NAF continued the strike.

– The starting point of the strike is that we have lagged behind on wage agreements since 2016. We want to reverse that and make up for lost time, says Mikkelsen.

It states that a security guard in a full-time position is 88.4 per cent of an industrial worker’s salary, or around NOK 438,000, while in 2016 it was just over 91 per cent of what a worker received. industrial.

– Has there been contact between the parties?

– We sent a solution proposal last weekend and they rejected it. So they sent suggestions this weekend that we turned down, and that’s where we are today, says Mikkelsen.

– Good humor

– How is the mood?

– The atmosphere during the strike has been surprisingly good and the people have a real “fighting spirit”. But, of course, strikes are historically long.

According to Mikkelsen, the business side was unwilling to give anything when they met to negotiate. This is how NHO disputes it, who points out that they reached the goal with Parat.

The new agreement gives the Parat guards a general supplement of NOK 4.50 per hour, NOK 3.50 as of August 1 this year, and an additional NOK 1 as of April 1 of next year. In addition, the requirement to increase the night and weekend allowances by NOK 2 per hour has been met, Parat stated in a press release when the strike for them ended.

also read: The guards are on strike

According to Mikkelsen at NAF, one of the points that the parties discuss is hourly versus fixed wages. The employee organization wants the guards to have an agreed fixed monthly salary and not an hourly wage, and that the apprentices be better looked after.

NHO Service og Handel claims that they only want to pay hourly wages to those who have small positions, less than 20 percent of a full-time position, since it will be very laborious to spread the salary over 12 months for such small work fractions.

– Not all employees think that it is okay for their salary to be distributed throughout the year if, for example, they have worked a lot one summer or Christmas. They want to get the money then, but NAF has said it’s a matter of principle for them that there should be a fixed salary regardless, Anne-Cecilie Kaltenborn, CEO of NHO Service og Handel, tells VG.

She points out that it is often the students who have such small positions and that everyone who works above 20 percent can get a fixed salary if they want to.

– Sad strike

– This is a very sad strike and we strongly apologize to those who depend on the security industry for security services. By the time we’re walking in, we really needed the guards at work, says Kaltenborn with Christmas shopping and the ongoing pandemic in mind.

She says the NAF guards have received the same offer as the one the Parat guards have accepted and that NHO has followed through on the most important points, including that apprentices’ service plans must be notified at least two weeks in advance. anticipation to provide predictability.

– How long should it be okay to attack? I think it is irresponsible when you have received an offer in the demanding crown year that is above what is given in the industry and you still say that you are not satisfied. 88 percent of an industrial worker’s salary is quite good, says Kaltenborn, considering that industrial workers often have a longer education than security guards who, according to NHO, have a basic education of 167 hours.

She notes that the security industry, along with the tourism industry and canteen operations, are the hardest hit by the pandemic.. Not only a paralyzed airline industry, but also the cancellation of closed festivals, sporting events and nightclubs, have led to a sharp decrease in the need for security guards.

– There is a lack of will to assume that we are great in Norway and in the world, believes Kaltenborn.