The bus settlement referendum showed that the “yes” side won by a narrow margin. A total of 50.44% of the bus drivers voted “yes” to the mediation result.
On Friday, the employee organizations informed the State Conciliator of Norway (Riksmekleren) that they had agreed to the wage settlement for bus drivers.
Now it turns out that the settlement was accepted by a very narrow margin.
According to the union Yrkestrafikkforbundet and Fri Fagbevegelse., when the votes from all the four unions were added together, 50.44% voted “yes,” and 49.56% voted “no.”
Further battles ahead?
Union leader Jim Klungnes at Yrkestrafikkforbundet warned of further battles over the upcoming settlement.
“Many bus drivers feel a great deal of frustration over their work situation,” Klungnes said.
The employers’ side, for its part, believes that they went to great lengths to reach an agreement.
Among other things, the drivers received compensation for moderate supplements during the coordinated main settlement in 2018.
The average annual salary for bus drivers will, after the settlement, be NOK 463,000, CEO Jon H. Stordrange at NHO Transport noted.
“New conflicts avoided“
There was a break in the mediation of the bus drivers’ settlement on September 20, and all drivers in Oslo and Viken were taken out on strike the same day.
After eleven days, on October 1, the strike ended.
At one point, more than 8,000 out of the country’s 12,000 bus drivers were on strike, until the parties agreed on a new settlement.
“We are pleased that the settlement has now been finally approved and that a new conflict is avoided.
“Thus, passengers can have faith in buses running as usual to work, school, and leisure activities,” Stordrange noted.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
Yeah, I’d say 50.44% was pretty narrow!
As a bil-løs pensjonist, tusen takk, bus drivers, for not going on strike again.
And I wear my diagonally folded – thus, 4 cotton layers tucked into my jacket and MUCH more comfortable than commercial or professional ones – facemask whenever I am on the bus or in the Lillestrøm terminal.
Maybe I should design a boardgame/brettspill about bus driving. :-
I wonder if there already is one, like the Ticket to Ride railway game. ??