Trade unions SAFE, Industri Energi, the Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS) and the Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) have initiated a lawsuit against the state in front of the ILO. The unions claim that the forced arbitration process that the government imposed on the Norwegian Continental Shelf collective agreement last year was a breach of fundamental trade union rights. The trade unions argue that the strike at Norway Continental Shelf was deliberately set up in such a way that it would not compromise gasp supplies to Europe and therefore posed no threat to the general welfare or to economic prosperity. The forced arbitration occurred when Norway Continental Shelf threatened a full lock out in response to the limited strike, in so doing ´ordering compulsory arbitration from the government´, trade unions say.
English: http://www.aftenbladet.no/energi/aenergy/Four-unions-file-suit-against-Norway ...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.