Union leaders want measures from the crown to avoid a forced wage meeting – E24

Fellesforbundet leader Jørn Eggum and Deputy Mayor Kamzy Gunaratnam meet to discuss the escalation of striking bus drivers and how, at the same time, deal with infection measures to avoid a forced wage board.

Eggum believes that the city of Oslo holds the key to guaranteeing workers’ rights and notes that Councilor Raymond Johansen has expressed his desire to introduce mandatory bandages in terms.

– You don’t get that authority from the government. If they are afraid of having to go to the forced salary board with weapons because infection is increasing, they should take the opportunity to give the Oslo City Council a chance to introduce a bandage, he says, adding:

– Then there is a legal labor dispute according to the book, and the government does not have to run the employer’s errands and cancel this strike.

Unsure of the conflict over the weekend

The Norwegian Board of Health has assessed daily that there is no danger to life and health as the bus strike has been going on all week, but Eggum fears that this may change when the strike now intensifies.

When asked if you think the employer’s side will try to go through a forced wage board on the basis of danger to life and health, you will be careful not to be too bombastic.

– We haven’t heard anything so far, so we’ll see what happens in the future. It will be the most interesting Monday when people go to work and schools, which will make it demanding in many parts of the country.

However, he believes there is no question that they are more uncertain about what the conflict will be like over the weekend.

– But there is no doubt that when you do not want contact, and do not want to contribute to being able to dialogue again, I experience that we have more uncertainty about which county and municipal doctors in the north and elsewhere have the same opinion as the health authorities here you have about infection control.

He points out that they do not have alternative means of transport in the districts, for example in Bergen and Oslo.

– In the surrounding neighborhoods, the car will be the alternative.

Believe employers should pay attention

Kamzy Gunaratnam believes that one should have two thoughts in mind, both infection control and workers’ rights, highlighting the latter in particular.

– I want to say that you do not think about perspectives of solidarity when in the strike we are in now, it is the bus drivers who should take into account and not the bosses’ side.

Gunaratnam emphasizes that he believes that collective wage negotiations are among the most important things that make Norway one of the best countries in the world to live in.

– And that many are unionized also means the right to strike, he concludes.

– Don’t expect them to be overly dramatic consequences

NHO Transport CEO Jon H. Stordrange repeats to NTB on Sunday that they have not considered submitting a new offer and that there are no plans for any concrete initiative on their part. This despite another 4,500 bus drivers in seven counties going on strike since Saturday. In total, around 8,500 drivers are on strike.

– Do you think the mandatory salary board will be relevant?

– We must let the professional health authorities decide, based on the infection situation and the further spread of the infection. It’s not our job to say anything about it.

– How do you think you should be able to take care of infection control considerations during the bus strike?

– It’s part of the crossword. We would like to avoid the strike, but it has not yet been established that there is a problem. So we probably would have been on the payroll committee. County doctors in Oslo and Viken have not reacted so far, but it is questionable whether they will react when the strike intensifies, Stordrange says.

It also points out that alternative transportation such as the subway, light rail, and local trains are more widespread in some places than others.

– We hope there are no too dramatic consequences. But the mandatory salary board depends on a professional evaluation. We cannot comment on it, so as not to influence your choice.

– There are several alternatives

The union leader believes there are several options that can be made, including those related to the home office.

– There are more people who can have a home office than do today. Flexible employers that can separate when the day begins and ends ensure that not everyone travels at the same time.

Eggum notes that the unions are doing what they can to prevent the strike from hitting a third party, but he thinks it’s difficult when it comes to bus drivers.

– We regret that we make daily life difficult for people, but there are not many other ways out when it comes to raising wages in the bus industry, he says, adding:

– If we had had a somewhat unstable government, they could have reduced tolls even during the conflict period.

Will not give up

Eggum says they regret that everyday life becomes more difficult for people, but that there aren’t many other outlets when wages must be increased.

– That has been the reason why you are so behind, because you have known how much it costs us to get them out of conflict because you get so much negativity out of it. So it is important to have positive voices in the public debate, we are completely dependent on that, otherwise it would have been easy for the government to come in and request a mandatory salary board.

– Some people think that the moment of the strike does not fit, considering the infection picture. what do you think about it?

– We do not decide when we will have a collective agreement. It’s every two years, and it should have ended this spring had it not been for the crown. When we got the dates, we were very unlucky that it started popping again.

He says that now they have removed the bus drivers and that now they have the finances to drive the strike, something they did not have before.

– If the government does not intervene, I will not give up until we meet the requirements, no matter how long it takes.