Norwegian oil firms and employees at the weekend agreed in principle a new wage deal, which will avert at least for now a strike at nine fields.
Two of the three unions that negotiated with oil firms will seek approval from their Members before they formally approve the deal, the lobby representing employers and two
union leaders told Reuters. An approval will be needed by June 30th.
About 845 workers out of about 7,500 employees on offshore platforms had planned strike
action from June 12th if the annual pay negotiations had failed.
The three trade unions involved are Safe, Industri Energi and Lederne, of which the largest,
Industri Energi, had agreed a wage deal and will not seek approval from its members, it said in a statement.
Safe and Lederne said they would seek the approval of their members before approving the
negotiated deal.
All three labour unions had said they would, at least initially, seek to prevent a cut in
Norway’s natural gas export at a time of tight supply in Europe.
