Norway Braces for Mass Wage Strike Amid Near-Record Inflation

By Staff, Agencies

Workers representing numerous Norwegian industries will go on strike on April 17 after failing to reach a wage deal with employers to make up for the unrelenting inflation.

Up to 25,000 union members will walk out this Monday as last-ditch talks led by a government-appointed mediator failed to produce an agreement on the salaries of about 185,000 workers, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions [LO] said in a statement.

The strike will affect suppliers to the country's key oil industry, with companies like Aker Solutions ASA joining the protest. By contrast, oil and gas production in western Europe’s biggest exporter of fossil fuels would be spared, as promised earlier by LO. However, construction and road maintenance, electricity, car sales, as well as confectioneries and breweries will also be affected.

The trade unions demanded a wage increase of at least 5.0 percent for the earnings to be on par with consumer prices in 2023.

"It is a very deadlocked and serious situation," government mediator Mats Ruland said in a statement as attepmpts to reach the agreement between the workers trade unions and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise [NHO] floundered.

From the opposite side of the table, the statement was that employers have gone to "great lengths" to meet the wage earners' wishes for higher wages. NHO also added that such a conflict marked a first time in Norway's history.

To emphasize the gravity of the situation, LO announced that it is prepared to add an extra 15,000 members to the strike.

The action comes as Norway is at pains to stifle inflation that hovers near a three decade-high at 6.5 percent, with unemployment close to multi-year lows. The Nordic nation's inflation unexpectedly accelerated last month, which, coupled with the weak krone, the worst performer in the G10 group of major currencies this year, is seen as almost a guarantee of the central bank's plan to raise interest rates.

While Norwegian Central Bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache stressed last month, she failed to see any signs for a price-wage spiral for now, the bank nevertheless raised its forecast for 2023 nominal wage growth to 5.1 percent, which would be the fastest pace in 15 years.