– There must be money on the table – VG

– It is a heavy and stressful workplace. I think the requirements they have set now are correct, Naweda Begum tells VG.

She has been a bus driver for 20 years and is now among the surprising successes of VG at Unibuss in Alnabru in Oslo. There has been no strike in the bus industry since 1998.

It lists the driving times, the occasionally bad buses, and the constant austerity measures that have led to an increasingly pressured employment situation.

– Our meeting time is only seven minutes before we leave the garage. In winter it becomes even scarcer, with cold buses, perhaps with ice. So we have to use our free time to scratch the windows, he tells VG.

Begum believes it is good that the association is now facing austerity and increasing stress.

– We want more respite. And when everyone else gets better pay, why shouldn’t we? he asks, noting that employees on both the subway and trams have better wages.

BACKGROUND: That’s why bus drivers are on strike

– Money on the table

Union leader Jørn Eggum and LO leader Hans-Christian Gabrielsen are also present in Alnabru to speak with the striking drivers and show their support.

“We have aligned ourselves for an industry that has lagged behind and we believe that we should have received more than the employers were willing to do,” Eggum tells VG.

– Before they possibly make contact and want to sit down and argue, nothing happens. And then there must be money on the table, she emphasizes.

LO leader Gabrielsen believes that it is the employers who must take responsibility for this strike.

– It is an occupational group that has lagged behind in salary matters over time, where there is a harmonization agreement that has not been followed.

– The fact is that this group has had a drop in purchasing power in recent years, and this is a strike for which employers must take responsibility, he says.

Have extra jobs

Annstein Garnes is a bus driver, shop steward and safety representative at Unibuss. She says that the support for the striking bus drivers is enormous.

– People who overcome the shouting and applause, because they know that they pay us badly. We feel massive support.

– We believe that we are on strike for something that is fair. This was promised in 2007, and the business side has not delivered. Anyone who had not received the salary to which they are entitled would go some way.

Garnes notes that several bus drivers have extra jobs to make everyday life work.

– We should be able to live off that. It doesn’t work without two people working at home. And if all drivers have two jobs, we can’t be obvious at work, he says.

Now it is up to employers how long the strike will last, he believes.

– Whenever they come to the field with a successful proposal, the bus drivers are very willing to discuss it.

– Are you worried that the strike could be canceled due to danger to life and health?

– I do not see any situation in which the strike should be canceled. Now I recommend using a car if you have one, and having a home office if you can. For those who can’t, we just have to apologize and ask them to talk to their employers about other solutions, be it taxis or carpool. They have to cover it for a short period of time.

– Nothing else to offer

– We have said it clearly and we remain on the sidelines: we have nothing more to offer. Bus drivers get the same level of pay increases that other industrial workers get in this pay deal, says Jon Stordrange, executive director of NHO Transport.

He points out that it is unsustainable not being able to live on a bus driver’s salary and experiencing a stressful workday.

– You should be able to live on the salary of a bus driver, but it is an average of 452,000 crowns. We do not think they are in such a bad position compared to other groups. In Oslo they have an average of 10,000 more than in the rest of the country. They also have a 34-hour workweek, compared to the normal 37.5, Stordrange says.

Stordrange also notes that fewer passenger numbers as a result of the pandemic have led to a loss of revenue.

– But when we get money to make it up, we want to avoid cuts and layoffs. It is not to give a raise.

– Many on the part of the businessmen do not believe that it is a question of crown, but of several years of delay and of a group that has sailed aft in terms of salary?

– It depends on the eyes that see. Since 2006, bus drivers have gone from having 86 percent of the average wage for industrial workers to 91 percent. We use figures from the Technical Calculation Committee, which calculates salary trends for all professions, says Stordrange.

He also argues that the average wage for industrial workers has risen as a result of the fact that many poorly paid industrial workers are no longer there due to technological advances.

– What are you waiting for?

– We hope that the other party will speak up and end the strike as soon as possible, especially with the risk of infection that it now poses. We haven’t made direct contact with them today, but we’ll see you on TV2 and NRK tonight.