Wants real wage negotiations
- To only give a predetermined percentage in salary increase is not right!
Many people recognize themselves in the headline and the preamble.
Join us in idyllic Ellingsøy outside Ålesund. Here we find the NITO group in Firmenich Bjørge Biomarin AS. They are getting ready to take control of the wage settlements:
- We want real and proper wage negotiations, not just a predetermined percentage, explains Bente Olaug Bjørklund Sten, who is part of the company group, and the one with the longest "experience".
The company is part of the giant DSM-Firmenich, listed on the stock exchange in the Netherlands, with around 30,000 employees.
The group has no less than 150 years of research and development behind it.
They are innovators in various industries, from fish to perfume and what is known as health, nutricion and care. They say they are suppliers of products people want and need, in a sustainable way.
Locally, they are only 31 employees, but possess key expertise in seafood and taste that large global corporations depend on to get the right taste in their finished products.
They are the only factory in the group that is based exclusively on seafood.
The ingredients are cod, shrimp, crayfish, crab, crawfish, oysters, salmon, squid and tuna.
From production comes natural seafood powder without additives that provide good taste in everything from Norwegian-produced fish soup to international ready meals on all continents.
In the picture above are some of the NITO members at Firmenich Bjørge Biomarin; from left Marianne Skuggen, Phillip Noble, Bente Olaug Bjørklund Sten, Lene Risbakk, and NITO's business group advisor Bjørn Wannebo.
Dependent on strong expertise
There is a high level of expertise and a lot of pride in the walls. Several have been in the job for a number of years.
The six NITO members, including the technical manager and other specialists, have knowledge that cannot be replaced overnight. This will help to give weight to the wage negotiations.
Global giant – Norwegian reality
In the picture above, Marianne Skuggen shows some of the products with content from their company.
For the past three years, wage settlements have in practice been a one-way street, we are told.
- The group has pointed to a "predetermined" percentage, and then it has more or less become so. We feel that as a small Norwegian company, we have little we should have said in the big international context," says Sten.
- And it seems as if the management is dreading wage settlements, they just want to get it done. We think we have to be on the supply side and in a natural way be perceived as a help. We want to contribute to agility by taking salaries seriously. Together with the management, we will get through the settlement in a constructive way, without spending too much time," she says.
We are ready, say the members of the company group and roll up their sleeves.
With international managers, it will be crucial that someone locally knows chapter 8 of the Working Environment Act on information, cooperation and co-determination.
- It is important that Norwegian agreements and rules of the game are complied with. The union representative becomes both a sled dog and a watchdog," says Sten. The company is a member of NHO, and thus they have a collective agreement/main agreement between NITO and NHO that will also regulate the settlement.
The NITO group wants to contribute to more order
"With foreign owners and global routines, there is a risk that Norwegian law and agreements will become a parenthesis," says Sten. - We want to stand up more. We want to help the management in a good way. It is together that we achieve value creation. Together we achieve better profitability!
In the company group, they talk about the annual cycle for salary and participation. They want to clarify what the collective agreement actually says about salary assessment, and how it should be practiced. NITO's business group advisor, Bjørn Wannebo, answers questions from the group and helps to facilitate a smooth dialogue with management.
- It is important that the company group plays on the side of the management, but at the same time sets clear demands. Dialogue is important. By having a union representative and a company group, it contributes to a safer framework in the company," says Wannebo (pictured).
Salary negotiations, pensions and training during working hours are something that is often discussed on Ellingsøy.
- It's not just about money here and now. It's about ensuring orderly conditions, predictability and respect for the expertise that engineers and technologists actually bring to the company," says Sten.
Now the NITO group wants to boost its membership, they want to provide more value for the members. They take an extra check to see if more people in the company can become members.
The more NITO members, the stronger they are in the face of both local management and the group.
"Our goal is clear: Real negotiations, orderly processes and a workplace where the Norwegian working life model is taken seriously – also when decisions are made abroad," says Sten.
She and the company group in Firmenich Bjørge Biomarin refer to their recipe and the value of standing together. They encourage engineers and technologists to join NITO, to create a company group, and to use NITO's advisors and lawyers when needed.
"Together, we can ensure that wage settlements are not just one percent from the Netherlands, but an actual negotiating table in Norway," Sten concludes.
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