Norway
Background information on industrial relations in Norway
- 28 Dec 1998
Norway: Public committee proposes statutory right to educational leave<#PDF_LINK>The public committee considering the right of employees to educational leave in Norway published its recommendations in December 1998. The committee recommends that all employees should have a statutory right to unpaid leave of up to three years in order to pursue vocational education.
- 28 Dec 1998
Norway: Human rights and Norwegian labour law<#PDF_LINK>A proposal for the incorporation of basic international human rights into the Norwegian legal framework was put forward by the government in October 1998. This move would place "closed-shop" trade union membership arrangements under particular pressure. At present, such arrangements mainly exist in companies and organisations associated with the Norwegian Trade Union Confederation (LO), and LO is now considering other mechanisms for retaining influence in collective bargaining in these areas.
- 28 Dec 1998
Norway: 1998 Annual Review for Norway<#PDF_LINK>This record reviews 1998's main developments in industrial relations in Norway
- 28 Dec 1998
Norway: Increased unemployment expected in 1999<#PDF_LINK>Reports by several important financial institutions, made public in December 1998, predict a turning point in the labour market situation in Norway. Unemployment is expected to rise from the autumn of 1999 onwards.
- 28 Dec 1998
Norway: New regulations on employees' access to share options<#PDF_LINK>The Norwegian Parliament approved in December 1998 a proposal for new tax provisions, making it more advantageous for employees to receive options on shares in their own company.
- 28 Dec 1998
Norway: Agreement strengthens cooperation on incomes policy<#PDF_LINK>In December 1998, the Norwegian government and the social partners reached an agreement to establish several committees for the purpose of advancing cooperation on incomes policy and of preventing unemployment rising. The committees' first report will form the basis for the pay settlements in spring 1999.
- 28 Dec 1998
Norway: Report on the financing of continuing vocational training<#PDF_LINK>A public committee considering the financing of students' subsistence while undergoing continuing vocational education submitted its report to the Norwegian Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs in November 1998. The committee examined the general regulations in the national scheme for educational funding, with a view to adapting the scheme to continuing vocational education.
- 28 Nov 1998
Norway: Compromise reached over 1999 state Budget<#PDF_LINK>In November 1998, the Norwegian coalition government managed to reach an agreement with the opposition Conservative and Progress Parties on a new state Budget for 1999. The new agreement means that the government is abandoning earlier suggestions of tax and duty increases, along with controversial cuts in parental benefits and holiday entitlement.
- 28 Nov 1998
Norway: LO leader wants to debate mediation and industrial action rules<#PDF_LINK>In November 1998, the leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, Yngve Hågensen, called for a review of the present regulations concerning negotiations, mediation and industrial action. The proposal has been welcomed, but any changes to the present legal framework will not take place without thorough deliberation.
- 28 Nov 1998
Norway: Merger of teachers' unions proposed<#PDF_LINK>A single trade union organisation embracing all personnel in the Norwegian educational system may soon be a reality, according to a proposal approved by the delegates at the November 1998 national conference of the Teachers' Union Norway. The proposal was supported by a press statement issued by the Norwegian Union of Teachers, but there are many obstacles to be overcome before such a merger could be completed.
- 28 Nov 1998
Norway: International agreement on exchange of information and good working practice signed at Statoil<#PDF_LINK>In June 1998, an agreement was concluded between the Norwegian oil company Statoil and national and international trade union organisations, on the exchange of information and the development of good working practice in all operations over which Statoil exercises direct control. The agreement commits Statoil to comply with the provisions of ILO Conventions that regulate employees' rights, and is applicable to Statoil's domestic as well as its international activities.
- 28 Nov 1998
Norway: NITO will remain a member of AF<#PDF_LINK>At its annual meeting in November 1998, the council of representatives of the Norwegian Society of Engineers (NITO) decided that the organisation should remain a member of the Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations (AF), rather than following the other affiliates to have left recently. The decision is based on AF being seen as the most viable alternative at present, but NITO stressed that recent developments and events within AF must be monitored closely.
- 28 Oct 1998
Norway: National Wage Board rules on pay disputes in state and municipal sectors<#PDF_LINK>In September and October 1998, Norway's National Wage Board ruled on various labour disputes which had gone to compulsory arbitration. Two of the municipal sector trade unions affiliated to the AF confederation received partial support for their claims. Similar rulings were made in other parts of the state and municipal sector.
- 28 Oct 1998
Norway: Trade union confederations join forces for the first time in a political strike<#PDF_LINK>Norway came to a halt for two hours on 15 October 1998, when the three main trade union confederations - LO, AF and YS - took strike action against the government's new budget proposals for 1999. The government is proposing several cost-saving measures, including cutting the number of statutory annual holidays by one day.
- 28 Oct 1998
Norway: Government to review limitations on overtime work<#PDF_LINK>The Norwegian government's Budget for 1999 provides for the establishment of a joint committee to consider the various provisions in the Act on Worker Protection and the Working Environment. One matter which the committee will discuss is the extent to which the current shortage of labour in many sectors requires the easing of the Act's limitations on overtime work.
- 28 Oct 1998
Norway: Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees conference focuses on privatisation<#PDF_LINK>The largest trade union in Norway, the Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees, held its national conference in October 1998. The central issue of the conference was the unions' strategy to halt the privatisation of municipal sector enterprises and the introduction of competitive tendering.
- 28 Oct 1998
Norway: New NHO director general appointed<#PDF_LINK>Finn Bergesen jr has been appointed the new director general of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO). He will start in his new job on 1 January 1999, but his administrative responsibilities do not take effect until after the 1999 intermediate wage settlements. The new appointee has broad experience in the public and private sectors.
- 28 Sep 1998
Norway: Municipal sector unions consider agreement on joint cooperation<#PDF_LINK>The Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees - affiliated to the LO union confederation - and the Norwegian Union of Practical Nurses - affiliated to the competing YS confederation - have concluded an agreement on the possibility of establishing a new organisation for the employees they represent. The agreement, which was made public in August 1998, received criticism from YS, while the leader of LO was positive, arguing that mutual cooperation would help to strengthen the influence of the membership of both unions.
- 28 Sep 1998
Norway: Committee proposes permitting private employment agencies and leasing of labour<#PDF_LINK>On 8 September 1998 a public committee put forward a proposal suggesting an end to Norway's present ban on private employment agencies and the "leasing" of labour. The leasing of labour should be subject to the same regulations as temporary employment, but with the possibility of making exceptions through collective agreements.
- 28 Sep 1998
Norway: LO launches debate on the future of working life<#PDF_LINK>The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) launched a campaign in September 1998, focusing on the future of working life. In cooperation with the Workers' Education Association of Norway, an extensive discussion exercise will be held, which will form part of LO's assessment of any necessary changes to the current Act on Worker Protection and the Working Environment.
- 28 Sep 1998
Norway: Service employers' organisations to merge<#PDF_LINK>In September 1998, it became public that two employers' organisations in the Norwegian service sector, HSH and APO, are planning a merger. According to the plans, APO will cease to function from summer 1999.
- 28 Sep 1998
Norway: Employees with multiple jobs entitled to overtime payments for part-time posts<#PDF_LINK>A Norwegian Supreme Court decision on 11 September 1998 gave an employee, employed in several different positions by the same employer, the right to overtime pay for hours worked in a part-time post.
- 28 Aug 1998
Norway: New Basic Agreements concluded for NHO member companies<#PDF_LINK>The new Basic Agreements between Norway's NHO employers' organisation and the YS and LO trade union confederations - concluded in 1998 - stipulate that a collective agreement may be put into operation when a union organises at least 10% of the relevant employees. NHO was unable to gain support for a proposal making it harder to obtain a second collective agreement in companies already bound by an agreement.
- 28 Aug 1998
Norway: Public sector trade unions consider cooperation<#PDF_LINK>In August 1998, the Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees (NKF) - a member of the LO confederation - and the Norwegian Union of Practical Nurses (NHSF) - a member of the competing YS confederation - agreed to consider establishing a new organisation for employees in the municipal sector.
- 28 Jul 1998
Norway: AF union confederation disintegrates further<#PDF_LINK>Another five member trade unions decided in June 1998 to leave the AF confederation in order to line up with Akademikerne, Norway's new confederation for academically qualified staff. Since autumn 1997, 12 unions with 90,000 members have decided to leave AF.
- 28 Jul 1998
Norway: Revised national Budget accepted in Parliament<#PDF_LINK>The revised national Budget received a majority vote of confidence in the Norwegian Parliament on 19 June 1998. Norway has experienced significant economic growth in recent years, but signs of increasing pressures and capacity constraints on the national economy are now emerging. The measures proposed in the revised Budget are seen by the social partners as insufficient to deal with the problems in the economy.
- 28 Jul 1998
Norway: Growth in sickness absence slows<#PDF_LINK>After several years of increasing sickness absence in Norway, new figures show that the trend is stabilising in 1998. The period during which employers pay sickness benefits has been extended from 14 to 16 days, taking effect from 1 April 1998, but there was no majority in Parliament for a government proposal to further extend the period. Nor is there a political majority for changes to the present arrangements allowing employees full pay compensation during sickness absence.
- 28 Jul 1998
Norway: Home-based teleworking may soon be regulated by law<#PDF_LINK>Home-based telework in Norway may soon be regulated by the Working Environment Act according to a Green Paper published by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development in summer 1998. The implication is that employees working at home will be safeguarded in the same way as normal employees. The NHO employers' organisation is critical of such an addition to the legal framework.
- 28 Jul 1998
Norway: New collective agreements in the Norwegian oil sector<#PDF_LINK>The most important agreements in the Norwegian oil sector were concluded in June 1998 without resort to strikes or lock-outs.
- 28 Jul 1998
Norway: Union dispute over the right to organise in newly privatised enterprises is resolved<#PDF_LINK>In June 199, the LO trade union confederation decided that members of its affiliated unions who are employed in newly privatised public sector enterprises may choose to keep their membership in their original (public sector) union, if a majority of the members concerned agree, rather than transferring to the equivalent private sector union.
- 28 Jul 1998
Norway: Social partners sceptical about child benefit reform<#PDF_LINK>In June 1998, the Norwegian Parliament secured support for the introduction of a cash child benefit scheme for parents with small children. The general view among the social partners is that the scheme is an expensive reform, and the NHO employers' organisation is worried that it will lead to a reduction in the numbers of people employed in particular sectors of the labour market.
- 28 Jun 1998
Norway: New pay agreements concluded for most public sector employees<#PDF_LINK>By June 1998, a majority of the bargaining parties in Norway's state and municipal sector had reached agreement on new pay agreements for the period 1998-2000. The settlements are estimated to give an annual growth in pay of 5.7% in the state sector and 6.1% in the municipal sector.
- 28 Jun 1998
Norway: Transport sector strike ends<#PDF_LINK>The strike in the Norwegian transport sector came to an end on 10 June 1998, with the parties agreeing on new collective agreements. It is regarded as a good settlement by the trade unions involved.
- 28 Jun 1998
Norway: New working time schedules agreed in brewing<#PDF_LINK>Provisions on the daily period within which normal working hours may be worked have been introduced in the new collective agreement for the Norwegian brewery sector, signed in the spring 1998 bargaining round. These rules had been demanded by trade unions after Coca-Cola Norway AS concluded a company-level agreement which allowed normal working hours to be worked between 06.00 and 21.00.
- 28 Jun 1998
Norway: Strikes in the public sector<#PDF_LINK>Several strikes during the 1998 bargaining round in the Norwegian public sector were settled by compulsory arbitration in June. Trade unions claim that such third-party intervention undermines their right to strike and jeopardises the organisation of unions involved in a strike.
- 28 May 1998
Norway: Spring 1998 bargaining round produced higher pay increases than expected<#PDF_LINK>The social partners in several leading sectors in the Norwegian private sector had concluded new collective agreements by mid-May 1998. It is evident that spring 1998's settlements will result in higher increases in pay than the Government had expected.
- 28 May 1998
Norway: Considerable employment growth achieved in Norway<#PDF_LINK>Norway is outside the EU and thus, unlike the Member States, not bound to formulate a National Action Plan for employment for 1998. However, employment policy goals are worked out annually in the national Budget. The employment rate in the Norwegian labour market is on the increase, with figures showing that 69.5% of the population aged between 16 and 74 were in employment in 1997. Unemployment declined from its peak in 1993 of 6.0% to 4.1% in 1997, and further reductions in unemployment are expected in the latter part of 1998.
- 28 May 1998
Norway: Strike in the transport sector<#PDF_LINK>Attempts at mediation between the bargaining parties in the Norwegian transport sector broke down in May 1998, and 5,700 workers went on strike. It is the first time that the two of the trade unions involved, NTF and NRAF, have joined forces in wage settlement negotiations.
- 28 May 1998
Norway: Proposed tightening of fiscal measures in revised 1998 Budget<#PDF_LINK>The revised national Budget for 1998 was made public by the Norwegian Government on 15 May 1998. The Government is concerned about the present overheating in the economy, and proposes that employers must set aside 2% of paybill as well as paying a larger share of the cost of sick pay benefits.
- 28 May 1998
Norway: New collective agreement concluded in banking<#PDF_LINK>A new collective agreement was concluded in the Norwegian banking sector in May 1998, providing for a general pay rise of 4.1%. All employees are guaranteed an annual increase of at least NOK 10,000. A new bargaining structure has also been introduced.
- 28 Apr 1998
Norway: Opening hours to depend on the size of retail outlets<#PDF_LINK>Norway's standing parliamentary committee on family, culture and administration recommended in April 1998 new provisions to restrict opening hours in the retail trade. A majority in favour of the new provisions seems to be the most likely outcome of a vote in Parliament.
- 28 Apr 1998
Norway: LO and NHO agree action plan for further and continuing education<#PDF_LINK>In March 1998, Norway's LO trade union confederation and NHO employers' confederation agreed on an action plan for further and continuing education. The action plan confirms that the right to further and continuing education should be an individual right, that a reform ought to emphasise training during employment and that the question of how the scheme is to be financed needs further consideration.
- 28 Apr 1998
Norway: Pay settlement for metalworking industry successfully negotiated<#PDF_LINK>Agreement was reached on 20 April 1998 for a new collective agreement in the Norwegian metalworking industry. The deal gives workers an additional NOK 3 per hour.
- 28 Apr 1998
Norway: Gender equality bonuses and significant pay increases in the hotel and restaurant sector<#PDF_LINK>The Norwegian Union of Hotel and Restaurant Workers and the Norwegian Hospitality Association agreed a new collective agreement for the hotel and restaurant sector on 24 April 1998. The outcome is regarded as favourable to the employee side, and it includes special provisions for the enhancement of pay equality between men and women.
- 28 Mar 1998
Norway: Trade unions focus on information technology<#PDF_LINK>Many trade unions recognise the need to keep their organisations and members up to date with new trends and developments in information and communication technology. In 1998, members of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) may soon receive offers of PCs and Internet access at home, and the Norwegian Union of Graphical Workers is offering its members free Internet courses.
- 28 Mar 1998
Norway: TBU figures show increase in management salaries<#PDF_LINK>In 1998, top managers in the private sector are for the first time included in the figures on pay increases published by Norway's Technical Calculating Committee on Income Settlement. In 1997, the average wage growth of top managers in the private sector was between 2.5% and 4.75% higher than the increase experienced by the average wage earner.
- 28 Mar 1998
Norway: Industry-level negotiations commence<#PDF_LINK>Norway's 1998 industry-level wage negotiations commenced on 20 March when the United Federation of Trade Unions handed over its demands for the agreement covering the metalworking industry. The negotiations are not expected to be finalised before around 20 April.
- 28 Mar 1998
Norway: New union confederation excluded from current bargaining round<#PDF_LINK>The new Norwegian trade union confederation, Akademikerne, is legally prohibited from negotiating in the current 1998 bargaining round. Akademikerne had sought to have its negotiating rights established in two court cases, but the courts have ruled that the Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations, from which seven of the eight Akademikerne member unions disassociated themselves in October 1997, still holds the bargaining rights for the 1998 round.
- 28 Feb 1998
Norway: Telework on the Norwegian social partners' agenda<#PDF_LINK>The apparent growth of teleworking in recent years is becoming an issue of increasing importance on the social partners' agenda in Norway in early 1998. The existing statutory provisions, as well as collective agreements, are regarded by many as inadequate for this type of work. This is particularly the case for home-based teleworking, which seems to be completely unregulated.
- 28 Feb 1998
Norway: The 1998 bargaining round will be at industry level<#PDF_LINK>At its general council meeting on 10 February 1998, the LO trade union confederation voted in favour of industry-level settlements in the spring 1998 bargaining round in Norway's private sector. In addition, LO wants to bargain with the NHO employers' confederation over the principles which are to apply to the forthcoming reform of further education and training. LO would like to see these negotiations finalised before the sectoral bargaining commences, but NHO has rejected such talks.
- 28 Feb 1998
Norway: Foreign doctors exempted from ban on private employment agencies<#PDF_LINK>In January 1998, it was announced that the exchange of qualified doctors from abroad has been exempted from the general ban on private labour exchange in Norway's National Employment Act, but this arrangement will not be extended to other areas of the health service. It has yet to be decided whether to lift the general bans on private labour exchanges and employee secondments, but a public committee, involving the major social partners, will be set up to look at the issue in depth.
- 28 Feb 1998
Norway: New provisions in LO-NHO Basic Agreement complicate negotiations between YS and NHO<#PDF_LINK>The revised Basic Agreement between Norway's LO trade union confederation and NHO employers' organisation was approved in February 1998. The attempt to extend the agreement's new provisions on the minimum level of members required for a union to enter into a collective agreement to other basic agreements, has led to complications in the negotiations between NHO and the YS vocational union confederation.
- 28 Feb 1998
Norway: Court cases brought on public sector bargaining rights<#PDF_LINK>Employers within Norway's state and municipal sector do not want to recognise the new trade union confederation for academically-qualified staff, Akademikerne, as a bargaining party in the spring 1998 wage settlement. Akademikerne believes that it has the right to bargain on behalf of its member organisations and has now brought the question to the Labour Court.
- 28 Jan 1998
Norway: Minister proposes lifting the ban on private employment agencies<#PDF_LINK>In January 1998, the Norwegian Minister of Labour and Government Administration, Eldbjørg Løwer, called for the lifting of the country's ban on private employment agencies. This followed a similar proposal to reform the Directorate of Employment put forward in December 1997 by its Director.
- 28 Jan 1998
Norway: Uncertainty associated with the 1998 pay negotiations<#PDF_LINK>During the spring of 1998 most of the pay agreements in Norway are to be renegotiated. It is anticipated that the right to further education and training will be a central issue during this year's settlement.
- 28 Jan 1998
Norway: Few strikes in Norway during 1997<#PDF_LINK>1997 was a year with few industrial conflicts in Norway, according to recently published statistics. The six-week strike on mobile oil installations in the North Sea during the autumn was the only major labour dispute during 1997.
- 28 Jan 1998
Norway: Wage growth figures for 1997<#PDF_LINK>The average wage growth in 1997 for Norwegian wage earners is estimated to have been 4.25%, according to statistics compiled as a basis for the 1998 bargaining round. For the first time, wage growth for top management within the private sector has also been estimated, and it is indicated that top managers have had higher than average wage growth.