Teachers dissatisfied with state Budget and school policy

In November 1999, teachers at various schools in Norway took strike action in protest against the government's state Budget, and its proposed measures to improve the recruitment situation for teachers. The teachers' trade unions claimed that they were engaging in legal industrial action, while employers sought an end to what it regarded as illegal strikes.

Norwegian teachers took strike action in November 1999 in protest against the government's state Budget, on grounds that insufficient funds were set aside for the lower levels of the education system. The teachers also expressed dissatisfaction with the government's proposed measures to improve recruitment of teachers, introduced in a proposition to the Norwegian parliament. The strikes involved members of the two largest teachers' union, the Norwegian Union of Teachers (Norsk Lærerlag, NL) and the Teachers' Union Norway (Lærerforbundet). Several schools around the country were affected by the action, which took the form of a number of short "political" strikes and demonstrations. The teachers' unions stated that the strikes occurred spontaneously, without coordination from the central organisations.

The focus of attention was soon directed at the legality of these actions. Norwegian labour law imposes a "peace obligation" when collective agreements are in operation, but allows short "political" strikes on matters not covered by collective agreements. Doubt was soon cast on the extent to which the actions taken by the teachers were solely concerned with the government's state Budget, or whether the issue of pay also was involved, thereby making the actions taken illegal.

The Ministry of Labour and Government Administration, which bargains on behalf of the employers in the schools sector, claimed that dissatisfaction with the present pay conditions of teachers had been the focus of at least some of the strikes, and as such called on the two teachers' unions to put an end to the strikes. The claim was countered by the unions, which stated that the strikes were legal, and both of then abstained from taking any initiatives to stop the strikes. They pointed to the fact that strike action had not been initiated at the central level, but was based on local discontent with present schools policy, and with claims of broken promises made during the last election. Although the unions refrained from ending the strikes, they nevertheless emphasised that the actions had to be within the legal framework, and that sufficient prior notice had to be given. The strikes ended soon afterwards, and there are few indications to suggest that there will be legal repercussions.

The strikes form part of an intensive debate on schools policy in recent months, the main focus of which has been the financial situation of the lower levels of the educational system. The quality of the Norwegian schools system, teachers' pay and the financial situation of the schools sector were also important issues during the municipal election campaign in the spring of 1999. Several political parties demanded that greater priority should be given to schools issues, while a number of important politicians also called for the raising of teachers' salaries, with some suggesting raises of up to NOK 50,000. During autumn 1999, the media have continued to focus on the tight financial situation and the poor physical condition of many Norwegian schools. Several reports, including one from the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO), point to the fact that a number of public sector occupational groups with higher education have lagged behind in the past 10 years in terms of pay.