Peace in the state – for the time being
For decades, the main collective agreements in the state have been characterised by major conflicts of interest on the employee side. This year's settlement was a classic compromise. We avoided conflict, but the conflicts of interest remain.
Opinion piece by Kristian Botnen, head of NITO state
This year's main collective agreement in the state can be called a classic compromise. Akademikerne and Unio have been allowed to keep their wage and bargaining model, while the state, LO Stat and YS Stat have gained support for four identical collective agreements. The question is whether this will solve the conflicts that have characterized the state collective wage settlements. Because the LO has been clear that they will not give in to the fact that they want central increases.
Know where the shoe pinches
For decades, the main collective agreements in the state have been characterised by major conflicts of interest on the employee side. The divide is between those of us who want local wage formation, and the associations that want central wage formation.
The nearly 200 central government agencies are very different in size and social mission. We believe that managers and union representatives in the individual company have the best control over their resources and know best how the distribution of salary funds should be done. This is crucial for them to succeed in their missions.
Therefore, we have worked purposefully to change the wage model in the state, which ten years ago led to a breakthrough. Until then, there had in practice only been one agreement in the state where everyone was subject to central wage negotiations. But dealers located in Oslo do not have the same insight into the needs of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency, the Norwegian Coastal Administration and the Norwegian Tax Administration.
Therefore, in 2016, the state and Akademikerne agreed on a model in which the central parties would continue to negotiate the financial framework, but where the distribution took place locally in each enterprise. Thus, employers in the Norwegian Coastal Administration could use this for recruitment, and managers in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to retain essential employees. At the time, LO Stat, YS Stat and Unio could not agree to this model for wage formation, so we got two different agreements in the time after.
Politically controlled collective bargaining
Since then, however, the agreement has developed and Unio has adopted the same agreement model as Akademikerne. Thus, the majority of government employees were covered by a collective agreement where wage negotiations take place locally. This did not prevent LO Stat and YS Stat from demanding that the state return to one identical agreement at the next crossroads. This received support from the Labour Party.
It is the minister, not the actual employers in the state, who decides what demands the state will bring. The collective wage settlements are thus politically controlled, and in 2024 the state demanded a wage model that broke with the principles from 2016. Akademikerne and Unio could not agree to this, and the strike in 2024 was a fact.
The National Wage Tribunal ruled in our favour, but the conflict in 2024 did not solve the overall issue, because this year, too, the employer demanded the state and LO Stat a joint identical collective agreement with central wage formation. Once again, we and Unio were prepared to defend our model, with success in the mediation as a result. YS and LO then followed in turn into the same agreement.
The result is that everyone has now joined a salary and negotiation model that is based on the local parties best seeing how responsibility, expertise, results and efforts are to be rewarded.
Will there be peace now?
There is little evidence of that. After this year's mediation, LO Stat has also made it clear that they do not accept the principle of local wage distribution. And in several settlements in a row, the state has put forward demands that go against the principles behind the 2016 agreement.
It will therefore not be surprising if the LO in the next interim settlement demands large central, general increases in the state settlement. It goes against our wage policy, which is why we and Akademikerne will never accept it. The parties avoided conflict this year, but the risk of new conflicts in the state has increased. Who benefits from it?
Let the government agencies and businesses have peace to solve the tasks we face, so that we are best equipped to build and develop the services and preparedness that the citizens of Norway deserve.