Fewer days lost in disputes in 2002

In 2002, some 150,000 working days were lost due to labour disputes in Norway - compared with around 500,000 in the last main bargaining round in 2002. The most extensive strike in 2002 hit the hotel and restaurant sector, while other significant disputes involved nurses, journalists and white-collar workers in manufacturing industry.

Figures published by Statistics Norway (Statistisk Sentralbyrå, SSB) in mid-2003 suggest that approximately 150,000 working days were lost as a result of labour disputes in 2002. The number of working days lost per 1,000 employees was approximately 70. This means that the number of working days lost in industrial disputes in 2002 (NO0206105F) was lower than in the other years over the past decade when bargaining over main wage settlements occurred (ie 1992, 1996, 1998 and 2000). The equivalent figure in 2000, the year of the last main bargaining round, was just under 500,000. At the same time, however, the 2002 figures confirm that Norway is among those industrialised countries with a medium to high level of industrial conflict (TN0303104U).

The figures from SSB reveal that there were 16 industrial disputes in 2002 (29 in 2000), and that a little fewer than 10,000 employees were affected by these disputes (94,000 in 2000). The figures seem to confirm previous observations that Norway is characterised by a relatively small number of disputes, but that they are large-scale in that many working days are lost per dispute. This pattern may be explained by the fact that conflicts in Norway are by and large connected to negotiations over industry-wide collective agreements. Norwegian labour law does not permit strikes or lock-outs to take place while a collective agreement is in force (the peace obligation). It is, however, possible to take strike action to achieve or establish a collective agreement, but such strikes usually involve relatively few employees, and are relatively rare.

Norwegian employees experienced a record high real wage growth in 2002 (NO0206105F). Thus several strikes in 2002 related less to pay, and more to issues such as those relating to existing collective bargaining structures. The main strikes in 2002 were as follows.

• The year's largest-scale dispute was a strike over pay in the hotel and restaurant sector. The dispute lasted for almost a month and involved at its peak almost 3,000 employees. Nearly half of all the working days lost in Norway in 2002 were due to this conflict, which was resolved by the acceptance of an agreement proposed by the state mediator.

• Early in 2002, strike action was taken by nurses and a few other groups organised in the Confederation of Higher Education Unions (Utdanningsgruppenes Hovedorganisasjon, UHO). The backdrop to this strike was a change in the ownership of hospitals that took place at the turn of the year and meant that existing agreements expired (NO0108139F). Most groups accepted the prolongation of their agreements until the ordinary spring settlement, but nurses and other groups in UHO rejected this (NO0201114N). The ensuing six-week strike in selected hospitals (NO0202102N) was ended by compulsory arbitration (NO0203103N). The conflict was interesting in the Norwegian context, since it was the longest labour dispute involving this type of health sector personnel.

• Strike action was taken during the year by journalists in the daily press, with the bargaining parties disagreeing on principles connected to the extension of holiday entitlements. Thus for almost a week none of the major newspapers were published.

• In the manufacturing and oil-related industries, there were several strikes involving members of the Confederation of Vocational Unions (Yrkesorganisasjonenes Sentralforbund, YS), including white-collar employees in manufacturing. Within this bargaining area, pay is determined solely at the company level through general and individual increases. However, local trade unions are not allowed to use the strike weapon even if agreement is not reached at company level. An important demand from the unions in this area has been to strengthen the mechanisms whereby disputes are resolved at company level.

• The year saw the first strike among professional football players. The main effect of the strike, which concerned issues including rights in relation to transfers from one club to another, was to postpone a number of football matches (NO0208101N).