The mayor of Porsgrunn expresses concern for children and young people in the ongoing teachers’ strike.
– That’s enough, a strike is a democratic right, but it is also a human right to go to school, says Robin Kåss (Ap).
Kåss, who also trained as a doctor, has been secretary of state in Jens Stoltenberg’s second government since 2008.
He sent exemption applications for 10th grade students who have been out of school since the summer. These must have been rejected.
Without school offers
The teachers’ strike has been going on since 8 June.
– We receive messages from child protection services. The number of requests in the evening and at the weekend doubled. It’s hard to know if it’s due to the strike, but it’s disturbing, says Kåss.
He says the municipality receives disturbing messages from parents, child protection, psychologists and the city administration.
– The government has a duty to protect life, health and important social functions. In my opinion, they shouldn’t wait any longer to intervene, says the mayor.
He points out that the strike at NCS could not last more than a day before there was a mandatory wage council.
– You are a Labor mayor and many will say that if you use a compulsory wage, you undermine the right to strike and its effects.
– It’s a huge dilemma. It’s a filing for bankruptcy if the government has to step in, she says.
On Monday, 100 new teachers went on strike. As a result, the Education Association has just over 8,150 members on strike.
Encourage consent
– KS is one of the parties and you have Sven Tore Løkslid, who is a party colleague and telemarker on the board of KS. Did you call him?
– No, we had meetings with KS and the Association for Education. Our appeal to everyone is to agree. This is a wage battle that needs to be resolved between the parties, says Kåss.
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