As is now the accepted rule in most Nordic countries, negotiations over collective pay agreements on a confederation level in Norway have given way to bargaining on an industry branch level, followed by local agreements in companies negotiated on the basis of the branch agreement. Negotiations commenced in the industry sector, which sets the tone as it is an export industry subject to international competition. Other sectors followed, such as that of retail, which signed a particularly innovative agreement on 12 September.
Negotiations were meant to begin in March 2020 but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The agreement in industry was signed on 21 August 2020 by the employer organisation Norsk Industri and the Fellesforbundet trade union, after an intervention by the national mediator Mats W. Ruland, who helped avert a strike that nobody wanted, in a context of crisis. The agreement, which will be validated on 22 September after the traditional vote by members of the signatory organisations, provides for a minimum average pay increase of 1.7%, applicable retroactively from 1 April 2020, and specific benefits for oil platform workers.
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