Eight hour past the scheduled time for ending the negotiations, the parties in the bus settlement reached an agreement. An increase in the additional pay for working at weekends and the personal needs of the bus drivers being taken more into consideration are both part of the new collective agreement for the bus drivers.
We’ve got a pay rise of around 16,000 kroner per April 1st 2017. The bus drivers also got a provision stating that the routes should be facilitated to account for the trips to the toilet of the bus drivers, chief negotiator Linda Jaeger in Administrative Traffic Association says.
One of the demands of the drivers has been that their salaries increase to the level of salaries of the people working in the manufacturing industries. The new agreement states that there will be incremental salary increases in 2016 and 2017.
– We will bring the salaries of the employees closer to salary level of those employed in the manufacturing industries, and we have ensured the improvement of working conditions in the bus industry, chief negotiator Norwegian Transport Workers’ Union, Dag Einar Sivertsen, said.
Increase in weekend allowance
The new agreement means that the salary of the bus drivers increases to the equivalent of 97 percent of the wage of the average industrial worker.
In addition to this the new collective agreement will introduce an increase of 40 percent in the additional pay for working at inconvenient times, like at weekends. This will apply to work done from 6 o’clock Saturday until the end of Sunday. The parties also came to an agreement on a competence voucher on the bus, and the bus companies are obliged to inform the employees about tests for further training which could give them a raise.
lavatory
Bus services will continue to be adapted to personal needs. This includes trips to the toilet.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
