The bus strike will intensify next Saturday – E24

Another 4,568 bus drivers will go on strike next Saturday. It appears in press releases from Fellesforbundet and Yrkestrafikkforbundet.

Thus, almost 8,500 bus drivers will be on strike from the start of the day on Saturday, if the parties do not reach a solution before that time.

All bus drivers in Vestland, Trøndelag, Rogaland and Finnmark will be eliminated in further strike recalls. In addition, large parts of Nordland and Kristiansand will be removed, according to Yrkestrafikkforbundet.

– Employers can easily resolve the conflict by keeping their promises, says Fellesforbundet leader Jørn Eggum in a statement.

– Bus drivers have very demanding working hours, wages are low, safety is threatened and we are concerned about the future of this important profession. That is why we are now taking more people to strike, says Eggum.

– I have an offer that goes in the wrong direction.

Union leader Jim Klungsnes of the Professional Traffic Association is disappointed that the employers’ organization “does not take seriously that bus drivers have fallen behind in terms of pay.”

– We have an agreement from before that the wage should approach the industrial worker’s wage, and then we receive an offer that goes in the wrong direction. It’s a breach of promise, Klungnes says in a statement.

He believes that the escalation of the strike on Saturday is a natural result.

– For the sake of the passengers, we hope that the employers will think and come back with an acceptable offer, so that we can end the strike quickly and that as few innocent people as possible are affected, continues Klungnes.

Jon H. Stordrange, CEO of NHO Transport, confirms that they have received the notice of resignation. He told E24 on Sunday that the entire country would be affected if the strike intensifies.

– And it’s very serious, so we don’t expect it to happen. But, I guess they have plans for that. In Norway, there are about 16,000 employees in the bus industry, and between 12 and 13,000 of them are bus drivers, Stordrange said.

Ask people to stay home

The strike has already affected all bus traffic in Oslo, Akershus and Østfold. This has meant that both Ruter and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration have asked everyone who may be home to be that from the start of the working day on Monday.

– Travelers are encouraged to seek alternative modes of transportation or refrain from traveling in connection with the strike. Ruter relates to the rules of the game that apply in a legal labor dispute and therefore will not add additional capacity, Ruter wrote in a news release Sunday morning.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration also requested a home office.

– It would have been very nice if those who can have a home office, took it. Then there will be a little less queue, traffic operator Anne Hårstad at the Norwegian Public Road Administration told VG on Sunday night.