And the strike goes on....
There's no settlement in sight for a strike by more than 3,000 teachers, day care center workers and some health care workers and municipal employees scattered around Norway. Both sides are digging in their heels.
 Striking Oslo nurses Cecilie Kongshavn (left) and Anne Lie fully back their union's decision to strike for higher pay. PHOTO: SVEIN ERIK FURULUND |
| Related stories: |
| Thousands of teachers and nurses walk off the job - 23.05.2008 |
| New major strike looms - 22.05.2008 |
| Pay raises end airport strike - 21.05.2008 |
| Postal strike averted, airport strike threat remains - 15.05.2008 |
Unio, the union representing the workers, claims that spirits are high among its members, especially the teachers. But it stresses that it's not only teachers who have walked off the job.
"We'll keep this going as long as we have to," vowed the leader of the teachers' group, Helge Hjetland.
She and Unio leader Anders Folkestad said it was "out of the question" to soften their demands for higher pay until the public sector employers group KS puts a better offer on the table.
That won't happen, responds KS, claiming it has no more money to offer. While most public sector labour organizations accepted pay hikes of just over 6 percent, Unio did not and is demanding more. Hjetland has fended off criticism, even from within some labour groups, that Unio's decision to go ahead with a strike on their own makes their campaign for higher pay especially difficult.
The strike is forcing some parents to take their small children to work with them, and interfering with year-end exams for many students. An estimated 30,000 Norwegians have been inconvenienced in some way by the strike so far.
More may feel the effects later this week, when the unions threaten to put more of their members on strike. Another 4,900 public sectors may walk off the job on Friday. That would bring the total of striking workers to about 8,100, of whom 6,600 will be teachers.
Nina Berglund
No comments:
Post a Comment