Employees of Salvation Army and Norwegian Association of Blind face strike action in Norway

Employees of the Salvation Army and the Norwegian Association of the Blind, along with various organizations in social services, child protection, addiction treatment, and mental health, are facing strike action. This comes after no agreement was reached in wage negotiations late Saturday night.

Karianne Hansen Heien, the chief negotiator for the union, expressed concern over the impact of the strike on vulnerable groups, stating, “It is clear that this will affect those who benefit from these services, but we hope that it does not greatly impact the vulnerable populations.” She emphasized that wages for private workers in publicly funded welfare services should align more closely with public sector wages and criticized the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (NHO) for not doing enough.

Jon Claudi, the negotiating director for NHO, countered that the employers’ offer was fair, stating, “We believe we have stretched ourselves significantly in these negotiations and presented an offer in line with what was accepted by other groups this year. We certainly want to reach a solution with the union, but unfortunately, we have not succeeded.”

Initially, just under 60 staff members have gone on strike, but plans for escalation of the action have already been announced for Wednesday.