Trade union confederations join forces for the first time in a political strike

Norway came to a halt for two hours on 15 October 1998, when the three main trade union confederations - LO, AF and YS - took strike action against the government's new budget proposals for 1999. The government is proposing several cost-saving measures, including cutting the number of statutory annual holidays by one day.

Norway came to a halt for two hours on Thursday 15 October, 1998, when the three main trade union confederations - the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO), the Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations (Akademikernes Fellesorganisasjon, AF) and, the Confederation of Vocational Unions (Yrkesorganisasjonenes Sentralforbund, YS) - took strike action in a political protest against the government's new budget proposals for 1999. The largest independent union, the Norwegian Union of Teachers (Norsk Lærerlag, NL), joined the three confederations in the dispute, while the new confederation for academically-qualified staff, Akademikerne, also encouraged its members to take strike action. The organisations involved have approximately 1.15 million members between them, and a large majority of these took strike action between 14.00 and 16.00 on 15 October.

The government's budget proposals for 1999, if approved by a majority in Parliament (Stortinget), suggest several cost-saving measures, one of which is to cut the number of holidays by one day in order to reduce the present pressure in the Norwegian labour market. There is, however, no guarantee of a majority in favour of this proposal in Parliament. Three of the opposition parties, which together form a majority in Parliament, have declared that they will vote against the proposal to reduce statutory holidays by one day. Nevertheless, the budget proposals were seen as "a declaration of war against Norwegian employees", according to a joint statement issued by the trade union confederations. The LO leader, Yngve Hågensen, argued that even though the reduction in holiday entitlement might not be approved, there was every possibility that other employee rights could come under attack, such as possible cuts in sickness benefits. The Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon, NHO) kept a low profile during the strike, but argued that although the strike was not illegal, it would nevertheless inflict great damage on Norwegian industry.