This year’s collective bargaining round was due to begin at the end of April and take place for the various agreement sectors through May. However, this timetable has been postponed because of the position created by the coronavirus.
“We have reached agreement with the main unions on this change,” says Jan Hodneland, director for employer policy at Norwegian Oil and Gas. “It means that the earliest we can start our pay talks will be the end of August.”
The background is that the “lead sector” pay negotiations between the Federation of Norwegian Industries and United Federation of Trade Unions have been postponed until after the summer holidays. They are due to resume on Monday 3 August.
Once these talks have been completed, negotiations for the collective pay agreements covered by Norwegian Oil and Gas will be implemented one after another.
The postponement means that the existing pay deals will continue to apply until further notice.
Agreements negotiated between Norwegian Oil and Gas and the relevant unions cover operator, drilling and catering workers on the continental shelf as well as employees in oil/well service companies, supply bases and land-based plants.
