A unanimous board in the Norwegian Nurses’ Association rejected the result of the negotiations with the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) on Monday after 95% of the nurses voted “no.”
Thus, there will be further mediation, and the risk of a nurse strike increases.
According to Fri Fagbevegelse, participation in the referendum was just over 40%, which means that the result was not binding to the board.
“The process further now is first mediation, and if there is no agreement there, the next step is a strike,” union leader Lill Sverresdatter Larsen in the Norwegian Nurses Organization (NSF) said in a press release.
Since the negotiations’ outcome has now been rejected, the NSF and the KS will be called in for new mediation.
In short supply
Larsen pointed out that nurses are the occupational group that is in the shortest supply in Norway.
“That can be seen both in NAV’s figures, Statistics Norway’s figures, and KS’s employer monitor…
The population’s health service depends on the nurses’ competence, and their socially critical function has been particularly visible this year,” Larsen said in a press release.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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