What does the wage settlement mean for you? Here you will find answers to the most common questions about how your salary is negotiated, and information about the negotiations in the state sector, Spekter, Virke, and NHO.
In some wage settlements, some of the money is distributed at the local level.
The wage settlement usually ends with a new version of the collective agreements. Read more about the collective agreements here.
A wage settlement is a negotiation between employers and employees (organized in trade unions) regarding how much wages should increase. Instead of each individual employee having to negotiate alone, this happens collectively, with the trade union (or the main confederation the union is part of, such as LO Stat) negotiating on their behalf. This ensures a fairer wage development for all members in a unit. Some settlements are large and involve hundreds of thousands of employees, while others are smaller, perhaps just for a small company.
The main purpose is to ensure that your wages keep pace with price inflation in society, so that you do not end up with less purchasing power. In addition, the settlements are used to negotiate important benefits such as:
Most collective agreements last for two years. Therefore, the negotiations vary from year to year:
Most collective agreements also have a provision for wage adjustment with the right to strike halfway through the period (i.e., during intermediate settlements).
The right to strike is the trade union movement's most important tool. Without the possibility of striking, trade unions would have no power behind the demands they make. The threat that work will be stopped if we do not succeed gives weight to negotiations with employers.
In Norway, wage settlements and the right to strike are regulated by the Labour Disputes Act and the Civil Service Disputes Act: