– We went into these negotiations with a clear demand to maintain our agreement model. The state wanted to force everyone into one agreement. We might not participate in that, and therefore we are breaking off the negotiations, says Kari Tønnessen Nordli, head of the Academics’ Association, in a press release.
The starting shot for the state settlement went on Monday 22 April when the four main associations – LO Stat, YS Stat, Akademikerne Stat and Unio Stat – handed over their demands to the other party in the Ministry of Digitalization and Administration.
The parties have not been able to reach an agreement, and they must therefore meet at the Riksmekleren on 2 May. The deadline for agreeing to the mediation is midnight on 23 May.
– Don’t make it to the finish line
The academics are the largest main association in the state and negotiate on behalf of close to 43,000 highly educated people. Negotiator Nordli has announced that there will be a strike if the Academicians are not allowed to keep their own agreement.
LO Stats’ main demand in this year’s settlement is, among other things, that all members are looked following through a fair distribution of wages, which they believe is best achieved through a general supplement for all.
The second main demand is to return to identical main tariff agreements for all government employees.
Today, LO and YS have one agreement, while Unio and Akademikerne have another.
– We were willing to find a good solution in negotiations, but the state obviously wants to go to the Ombudsman this year as well, so then we will have to go there, says LO Stat leader Egil André Aas.
Demand real wage growth
YS’s demand to the state is real wage growth for all members, and that there will once once more be one joint main tariff agreement in the state.
The parties have not reached an agreement on how much of the wage supplements should be given centrally, and how much should be distributed among the individual businesses.
– There have been good and constructive negotiations, and the state met YS Stat on several of our demands in the negotiations, but unfortunately we did not quite reach the goal, says YS Stat leader Jens B. Jahren in a press release.
Includes 165,000 employees
Unio, which is the country’s largest main organization for university and college graduates, entered the negotiations with demands for clear real wage growth. A week later, Unio’s state negotiator, Guro Lind, believes that the state has not met the organisation. She believes the state entered the salary negotiations with the wrong focus.
– Instead of addressing the real challenges in the state, the state’s main focus has been to gather all four main associations on a common collective agreement. But the state’s offer in the negotiations does not bring any improvements for Unio’s members, and then there would have to be a breach, says Lind in a press release.
The state settlement covers around 165,000 employees and has largely been regarding how much more they can expect in their paychecks going forward. With a backdrop of 5.2 per cent in the frontline professions framework and agreement that the lowest paid should have something more, it was well in place for state employees to also have increased purchasing power.
Different estimates for price growth vary from 3.9 to 4.1 per cent, which implies an increase in purchasing power of between 1.3 and 1.1 per cent.
#Breach #salary #negotiations #state
2024-04-30 20:02:39