This will be confirmed by TV 2 just after midnight on Thursday.
– There is a rift between the parties, so there will be a strike from tomorrow early, says chief negotiator Lill Sverresdatter Larsen in Unio to TV 2.
On the other side of the negotiating table, the employers’ organization Spekter expresses disappointment with the result:
– It has been an extremely demanding mediation, and I must say I am very disappointed that the Norwegian Nurses’ Association chooses to take its members out on strike in the middle of a pandemic, when they have received an offer that is on a par with all other groups in society has received this year, says Spekter’s CEO Anne-Kari Bratten.
– Not met on anything
The nurses demanded a clear real growth during this year’s settlement, but negotiator Sverresdatter Larsen says the distance between the parties was significant. This meant that the Ombudsman chose to stop the negotiations when the deadline expired at midnight.
– The mediator stated that the parties were so far apart that there was no basis for submitting a proposal that could be expected to be recommended by both parties, informs The Ombudsman.
– Unio’s chief negotiator, Lill Sverresdatter Larsen, left the negotiations empty-handed. Photo: TV 2
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– We have not been met on any of the requirements we have had. We need a clear signal from the employer that they see and recognize the need for vital skills. Not everything can be resolved in a settlement, but we have not been met with anything, says Sverresdatter Larsen.
She says that the will to strike is great when a total of 313 Unio members, mostly nurses, are now on strike in the health trusts OUS, Ahus, Helse Bergen, St. Olav’s hospital, Østfold Hospital, the University Hospital of Northern Norway and Martina Hansens Hospital. Sverresdatter Larsen calls the withdrawal “modest”.
– We shield those who engage in purely corona-related work, confirms the negotiator.
Demanding pandemic
Lill Sverresdatter Larsen says the pandemic has helped to emphasize the need for nurses.
– Many of them have been in a very extreme situation through the pandemic. We have signals from about 30 percent who say that they have either quit, or are considering quitting their profession. We have an urgent need to be able to pay them accordingly, so that they consider staying in the profession for another period.
She calls the outcome of the negotiations “boring”.
– I’m very, very disappointed. I had hoped and believed that we would achieve something, Sverresdatter Larsen concludes.
Believes the nurses demanded too much
Spekter’s CEO Anne-Kari Bratten there was a great distance between the parties, and believes Unio’s demands were too high.
– The parties were too far apart and the Norwegian Nurses’ Association wanted a settlement that is much higher than what all other groups in society will get in 2021, says in Bratten to TV 2.
She points out that the last year has been challenging for Norway, and says Spekter’s offer package reflects this.
– It is important that we show solidarity. Spekter has offered the nurses and members of the Norwegian Nurses’ Association the same wage settlement as all other groups in society can expect to receive this year.
– Patients are not affected
313 nurses will be taken out on strike on Friday, Spekter’s CEO does not believe that this will affect patients in Norwegian hospitals to any appreciable degree.
– The hospitals will take care of patient safety in a good way through this strike and onwards. They will take the necessary priorities to ensure proper patient care and ensure that patients are not affected by this strike.
She says it is important that the hospitals now have the opportunity to focus on how to handle the situation, and emphasizes that Spekter is prepared to end the strike as soon as possible:
– Spekter and the health trusts will constantly look for solutions that make this strike pass quickly, Bratten concludes.
The case is being updated!
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