Norway Rules On Norwegian Striker Demands

The Norwegian Ministry of Labour has today ruled against the demands of Norwegian oil and gas workers who had been seeking to retire early at the age of 62.

The demand, which caused massive disruption to Norwegian output this summer due to strikes and worker lockouts, was brought by the workers about in a bid to attain retirement three years earlier than the national average. The workers were seeking full pension rights at the earlier retirement age.

The strikers had also sought a wage increase in its dispute action.

The resultant strike action saw exports of oil and gas drop from Norwegian companies, most notably Statoil, with many processing facilities forced to close in June this year. The drop in output was estimated to have cost the Norwegian fuel industry approximately €440 million over the course of the 16-day strike.

Today, the Ministry of Labour ruled that the workers did not have a right to retire earlier than the general workforce at the age of 62. However, it did rule on a 4.5 per cent increase in wages for the workers.

The Norwegian Oil and Gas Industry Association (formerly the Norwegian Oil Industry Association) had not released a full statement on the ruling at the time of publication of this article.

However, Reuters reports that the association welcomed the separation of the wage dispute from the retirement issue.

"It is important to us to keep the pension question outside regular wage negotiations," the agency reports spokesman Haavard Hauan as saying today.