Over 100 SAS employees in Norway are going on strike starting today, Friday.

”"All SAS flights" in the country will be affected in the short term, according to Martinus Røkkum at the union

The parties had to reach an agreement by midnight on Thursday, but that did not happen. Early on Friday morning, the unions involved, Fellesforbundet and Parat, confirmed that the negotiations had broken down.

”"SAS has not been willing to accommodate us regarding some of our demands," says Martinus Røkkum, who represents the cabin crew union within Parat.

According to him, all SAS flights will be affected by the strike in the short term.

The cabin crew union at Fellesförbundet has announced that 115 of their members will go on strike starting Friday. From Parat's side, five members will strike on Friday, which is then planned to increase to a total of 40 over the weekend.

The issue of dispute is, not unexpectedly, wage levels, with unions claiming that SAS is between 15 and 30 percent lower than competitors, such as Norwegian. The union now claims that wages have been stagnant for the past twelve years.

”SAS has rejected all demands and wants the cabin crew to continue working under conditions that are not compatible with Norwegian labor law,” says Dag-Einar Sivertsen at Fellesforbundet. 

The employer side, NHO, the Confederation of Danish Enterprise, on the other hand, believes that SAS has gone a long way to meet the needs of cabin crew both in terms of pay and working hours.

”"We regret the inconvenience and uncertainty that travelers may now experience," says Erik Lahnstein at NHO Luftfart.

”"It is particularly unfortunate to have a conflict in a situation where the company is under bankruptcy protection and in reconstruction and continues to lose money. This conflict contributes to making an already difficult situation even more difficult," he continues.

Source: TT-DI.SE