I change children, kind in-laws and work before breakfast. Dad Bård Eikin (49) has to find creative solutions in the face of the asylum strike.
– She could do it for ten minutes on her own, but then she must have our attention, Bård Eikin (49) tells Kjeller.
Daughter Esther (3.5 years old) just made up her mom ready to go to work tomorrow, before she has to crawl into bed.
Today, the three-year-old kept her grandparents busy with painting, beading and singing, went on a field trip and secured an ice cream, or it was three.
Esther will have to stay home again tomorrow.
Because the kindergarten is partially closed.
The Hovin Valley Sports Kindergarten in Oslo is one of dozens of kindergartens across the country that have been on strike since October 17.
So far, around 2,000 employees in private nurseries have gone on strike. Thursday is taken out of 300 other employees. Monday 31 October 100 new.
Thousands of children and their parents are affected. Some parents have reversed the working day and go to the office in the evening, some take their children to work, others resort to their grandparents. In the worst case, someone has to take unpaid leave. In closed Facebook groups, frustration escalates.
– There’s no point sitting in one-hour Teams meetings at the kitchen table when you have an active three-year-old at home, says Eikin.
He is an IT manager in an American company, his wife is a bureaucrat.
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Too bad for the children
The in-laws drove from Arendal before the weekend. They were actually only supposed to help for one day, but they will stay for the rest of the week.
– We don’t know what we’re going to do next week. It seems that this strike could be prolonged. So here we have to be creative, says Eikin.
Emphasize that they are lucky. Both he and his wife have flexible employers.
– It’s not our parents’ fault. We will spin it somehow. The children are the losers in this strike.
They lose stability and contact with their friends, he points out.
– For younger children, predictability in good and safe routines is incredibly important.
They’re planning a baby exchange next week. Dad takes a couple of kids one day, then hopefully another parent will bring their daughter another day.
Pandemipessimist
– You have a little flashback on the pandemic, he says.
The daughter started kindergarten on the day of Norway’s closure, March 12, 2020.
– She made it two hours with the other kids before we had to go get her.
You never knew when the kindergarten was open. Because every time someone got infected, he had to partially shut down.
The reason for the strike is that of workers’ organizations dissatisfaction with retirement. They believe that the AFP program they receive now is too poor compared to what their colleagues receive in municipal daycare centers. This is for now few characters to the solution.
Father Eikin says he supports the strike.
– Employees have the right to strike. We give them the best we have every day, it’s clear we want them to have the best working conditions, she says.
Esther has long been looking forward to her first Lucia celebration. The previous two were never made.
– I’m a pessimist, says the father.
– I think Lucia smokes again this year.
The PBL employers’ organization is sorry for the problems the strike is causing for the children.
– It is impressive to see the vast consequences the strike has for families, children and local communities. We are very sorry for this, says communications manager Marius Iversen at PBL to VG.
