At the beginning of April, the first sectoral agreement in Norway's 2004 collective bargaining round was concluded in manufacturing industry. The social partners agreed on moderate wage increases and, with the help of the government, on a solution to the controversial issue of occupational pensions.
Bargaining in the parts of the private sector most exposed to international competition - between the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions (Fellesforbundet) on one side, and the Federation of Norwegian Manufacturing Industries (Teknologibedriftenes landsforening, TBL) and the Federation of Norwegian Construction Industries (Byggenæringens Landsforning, BNL) on the other - culminated in new collective agreements on 1 April 2004. There had been fears that the negotiations in the three bargaining areas acting as 'trend-setting sectors' in the 2004 bargaining round, and the process of mediation that followed, would end in strike action involving almost 50,000 employees. However, an agreement was reached providing for moderate wage increases and, with the help of the government, a solution to the controversial issue of occupational pensions.
In the 2004 bargaining round, the 'trend-setting sectors'- ie those branches setting the framework for collective bargaining in other parts of the economy (NO9903120F and NO0012117F) - were extended to include the building industry and the textiles industry. Previously bargaining in engineering alone had played this role. The new agreements reached in the three sectors in April (the first of the bargaining round) provide workers with a general wage increase of NOK 1.00 per hour, though in branches without subsequent company-level bargaining workers will receive a general increase of NOK 1.50. Moreover, an additional low-wage increase of NOK 0.50 is awarded to those groups earning less than NOK 119 per hour. The social partners also agreed on new rules regarding the hiring in/out of labour, which will provide trade unions with better information about the hiring and outsourcing activities of companies.
The most difficult issue on the bargaining agenda was the proposed introduction of an agreement-based occupational pension scheme. Trade unions have long called for the introduction of such schemes at company level in the private sector (NO0103125F and NO0101119F). However, the employers had opposed any attempt to introduce compulsory occupational pension schemes. In the 2004 negotiations, trade unions sought to obtain for employees in companies subject to collective agreements a right to occupational pensions, and also to commit employers to a greater degree to existing schemes. The employers refused to accept an agreement-based scheme, not least because it would create a competitive imbalance between companies with and without collective agreements. Mediation failed to bring the parties closer together, but the TBL and BNL employers' organisations reluctantly conceded on condition that such pension schemes should be based on a statutory right applicable to all employees (not just those covered by collective agreements). Thus, the social partners sent a joint letter to the government calling for legislative measures in this area. The government came to the social partners' aid, stating that it would place a proposal for a statute-based occupational pension entitlement before parliament some time in 2004. In its letter to the social partners, the governments stated that the proposal will form part of a more general White Paper in connection with the proposed reform of the Norwegian pension system (NO0402101F).