May 9, 2000 - 07:49 AM
Nationwide Strike Ends in Norway
OSLO, Norway (AP) - A six-day national strike has ended in
Norway,
but the settlement raised fears today that it could inspire more
labor
conflicts as other unions demand comparable deals.
The strike by 84,600 members of Norway's largest union was
settled in
all-night talks. The agreement came just two hours before it was
set to
expand into the largest labor conflict in nearly 80 years in
this nation,
which is the world's second largest oil exporter.
The strike had threatened European automobile production as
supplies
of Norwegian-made parts dried up, putting the government and
employers under pressure to end the conflict.
The Saab carmaker closed its Swedish assembly lines on Monday,
and
the industry feared tens of thousands of layoffs in Europe if
the strike
continued. Saab planned to begin resuming production this
afternoon
with the end of the strike, spokesman Goeran Fredriksson said.
"It is good that there was an agreement and the strike is over.
That is
good for the Norwegian economy and society," Prime Minister Jens
Stoltenberg said. However, he warned that the challenge now is
to keep
wage growth under control in Norway, already among the world's
most
expensive nations.
The new offer was to be put to a vote by union members, with
results
expected May 25. Strikers were returning to work immediately
pending
the outcome of that referendum.
The agreement included a 16 cents per hour raise for all union
members,
and 38 cents for those with the lowest wages, plus expansion of
paid
vacations to a minimum of five weeks in 2002.
Wage and benefit costs would increase by 4.86 percent under the
settlement - more than the 3.5 percent to 4 percent union
members
rejected before strike and well over the 3.5 percent ceiling
recommended
by a national panel. Norway's inflation rate was only 2.5
percent in the
past 12 months.
Finn Bergesen, head of the Norwegian Confederation of Business
and
Industry, warned of increased employment, while economic
analysts
said much of wage gains would be eaten up by higher interest
rates and
inflation.
"We just have to acknowledge that it going to take longer than
we had
hoped to bring our wage increases in line with those of our
trading
partners," Bergesen said after the employers' umbrella
organization
accepted the deal.
But the deal led to concern that similar settlements by other
unions
could push Norway's already sizzling economy to the brink of
overheating.
Settlements by Norway's dominant union, the 800,000-member
Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, usually called LO, are
seen
as a benchmark for other wage talks, and other groups -
including the
vast public service sector - were expected to demand similar
deals.
"A higher offer to the LO will increase the demands from our
negotiating
partners," said Jan Andersen-Gott of the municipalities
association that
is bargaining with unions for thousands of city workers. As of
now, it
can only offer 3.25 percent, he said.
The Oslo newspaper Aftenposten predicted a series of strikes
later this
month with a broad range of wage talks under way, many of them
in the
public sector.
The strike began last Wednesday after union members rejected a
contract package, even though it had been recommended by their
leadership.
The conflict was broadly seen as a protest against an increasing
gap
between average workers and that extreme rich in this nation of
4.5
million people, which is enjoying an unprecedented economic
boom.
The strike affected road transport, some passenger ferries,
hotels,
construction and some private security companies and many
newspapers.
=====================================================
