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Therefore, there may be a train strike tomorrow – VG


QUEUE AND CHAOS ?: The night’s train brokerage has elements that many of the spring brokers do not have. In this case, you can read which sections will be affected tomorrow in the event of a conflict.

Almost all the settlements in this spring’s wage settlement have ended without a strike. Because they’re largely about money. But in the ongoing train brokerage, there is not only money but also principles on the table.

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If the parties fail to agree on the evening’s final mediation, it will affect train traffic in Greater Oslo and Ofotbanen in Narvik from Wednesday morning or later if the mediation drags on beyond Wednesday.

And it may well do so, if the parties do not reach an agreement by midnight.

It is not the employees on board the trains who can make the trains stop this time, but the workers who secure the tracks:

The night’s brokerage applies to employees in Spordrift AS and OneCo Networks AS, who contribute with operation and maintenance to Bane NOR.

The state employer organization Spekter mediates on behalf of Bane NOR and LO Stat on behalf of the Norwegian Railway Association (NJF), the Norwegian Locomotive Workers’ Association (NLF), and the Electricity and IT Association.

A total of 120 track employees are taken out on strike, in the event of a conflict.

This is what they are arguing about

Since this spring’s wage settlement has been virtually strike-free, it is expected that the night’s mediation will also end with it. But this mediation is likely to be tougher.

The principles they dispute are who will have control over the rotation and working hours:

  • Both parties agree that so-called average calculation of working hours is ok. This means that an employee can work more one week and less another.

The challenge is that the employees experience that the employers use the right of management, ie that they decide without the employees being included in the assessments.

– All over a comb

The parties do not comment on the content of the mediation while the mediation is in progress.

But before the mediation began, Janina Hortman, head of the electrical staff’s national council in NJF, put it this way Free Trade Union Movement:

– We are not against the average calculation of working hours. But we believe this is something local parties must agree on. You can not cut everyone over a comb. This must be agreed in each individual case.

TENSION: Trains that are standing, not running, can create major problems, especially in Eastern Norway on Wednesday.

Another tells VG that they have experienced that some have been ordered to work, without it being agreed.

  • The other big challenge is about something of the same:

The shop stewards demand to get their hands on the wheel when the rotation is set up.

– It is a relatively reasonable requirement that the shop stewards must influence the members’ working hours. Today, employers take too much care. That must be the end of it, says an LO shop steward who follows the mediation.

According to NTB, some of the disagreements in For OneCo Networks are about the distribution of wage supplements, while for Spordrift it is difficult to calculate working hours in shifts.

Rejects having made steep demands

Head of Communications in Spekter, Ingvild Dahl Dørnes, said this before the mediation started:

– We do not want to comment on the discussions the parties have had in the negotiations or the allegations from the shop stewards, but the employer has not set requirements related to the average calculation of working hours and management rights.

She said that she hoped that with the help of the national broker they could find “solutions that are good for both Spordrift and the employees”.

Another factor is that there are two different cultures that are at odds:

LO who thrived when traditional state-owned companies controlled the railway. But after the Erna Solberg government liberalized and Track operation in 2019 was separated from Bane NOR, the climate has hardened.

– Preparedness for error correction is required

Sverre Kjenne, Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology at Bane NOR, says that a strike will mean that there will be no one who can repair switches or other things that can break.

– In order for the trains to run safely and safely, readiness for error correction is required. Therefore, the trains can not run where employees in Spordrift, who take care of our preparedness, are taken out on strike, Kjenne explains on Bane Nor’s website.

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