Negotiations with the state begin on April 16. NTL is fighting for a unified, central collective agreement that ensures equal pay for equal work, regardless of where you are organized. The current situation with different agreements creates unfair differences and undermines the Norwegian model.

Important dates for the state settlement:

• April 16: The wage settlement opens. LO Stat and the other main organizations submit their demands to the employer in the state, the Ministry of Digitalization and Public Governance (DFD).
• April 27–30: Final negotiations in the state.
• May 1: The deadline for negotiations in the state is always at midnight on the night before May 1.

Result:

After demanding mediation, an agreement was reached in the 2026 state settlement. All four main organizations — LO Stat, YS Stat, Unio, and Akademikerne — received identical collective agreements, and NTL's demand for a common wage pool was met.

The economic framework is 4.4 percent, in line with the front-fag settlement. The entire available framework of 1.9 percent is to be distributed locally. NTL and the state both demanded central general increases that would ensure wage development for all employees, but we did not succeed in this.

The agreement is valid from May 1, 2026, to April 30, 2028.

Negotiations in Spekter take place in two stages. First, we negotiate centrally regarding the overall additions in the initial A-part negotiations. Once these are completed, the enterprise-specific negotiations for the local B-part agreements are carried out at the workplaces.

Important dates for the Spekter settlement:

• April 15: A-part negotiations
• April 17: Tariff conference. Digital.
• For areas 10, 11, and 13, deadlines will be agreed upon later.
• The other areas have a negotiation deadline of May 13, 2026.

Result:

The economic result from the A-part negotiations is a general increase of NOK 12,675 per year, effective from April 1, 2026. The increase is a gross addition, and part-time employees are granted a proportional increase.

Download: Protocol from the A-part negotiations

Now, the negotiations for the local negotiations in the Spekter area have also been conducted and completed. The result is now going to a membership ballot. You can read more about this here.

Check out: the negotiation system in Spekter - step by step

Virke – Student Welfare Organizations

The wage settlement for student welfare organizations usually follows after the settlement in the state sector has been clarified. The result from the state settlement often sets the guidelines for what we can demand here.

Important dates:

• May 5: Tariff conference.
• May 20–21: Negotiations.

Result:

• NTL members receive a central general wage increase of 10.50 per hour.
• The parties have agreed on new provisions regarding educational leave. This means that employees, by agreement with the employer, may be entitled to leave with pay, graded pay, or without pay for education.
• The agreement has been improved in areas concerning competence development and work clothing, better life-phase policy, and short welfare leaves.
• It has also been agreed that the parties will work together to review the collective agreement during the period. In addition, the parties will also look at the method for the statistical basis in the tariff settlements.

Wage increase

All NTL members at the student welfare organizations receive a general wage increase of 10.50 per hour. This corresponds to 20,475 NOK on the annual salary for a full-time position. The rest of the wage increases are to be negotiated locally.

Virke – HUK

Negotiations for Virke HUK (health, education, and culture) normally take place after the front-fag (competitive industry) and the public sector have finished. This tariff area is complex and consists of several different collective agreements that are negotiated separately. The goal is to ensure members a wage development in line with comparable groups in the public sector.

Important dates:

• June 2: Tariff conference
• June 15–17: Negotiations.

Result:

The parties have agreed on the same wage framework as in the state settlement of 4.4% for both types of agreements. For the state-like agreements, the entire pot is delegated to local negotiations at the enterprises. For the municipal-like agreements, the wage framework was given as central increases to everyone.

NHO Abelia

In this collective bargaining area, all salary negotiations take place locally within the companies. The central negotiations set the framework for the collective agreement, but the actual salary increases are always negotiated directly between the local union representatives and the employer.

Important dates:

• May 21: Collective bargaining conference
• October 6–7: Negotiations

Negotiations in the Abelia area are underway.

Collective bargaining conference

On Thursday, May 21, NTL organized this year's collective bargaining conference for union representatives covered by the collective agreement between LO/NTL and NHO/Abelia for Research and Education. This applies to around 45 entities, including research institutes, science centers, humanitarian organizations, and a few other organizations.

In addition, information was provided regarding the negotiations with Abelia, which will take place on October 6–7, and NTL requested input for the revision of the collective agreement.

This collective bargaining area differs significantly from all others, as local negotiations are conducted before the central negotiations. Another difference is that the overarching collective agreement does not have a salary system; that is contained in the local special agreements. Salary is not negotiated with Abelia in the central negotiations, which is why local union representatives must negotiate the entire salary framework and distribution locally. 

Local negotiations must be concluded by September 15.

Result:

Negotiations will begin later this year.

Direct agreements

Direct agreements are collective agreements entered into directly with companies that are not members of any employer association/employer organization. 

No collective bargaining conference is held for these collective agreements. Direct agreements are normally negotiated from August to December.