Around 1,100 private kindergarten staff face strike over pay and pension talks

Private kindergartens in twelve Norwegian municipalities have been given a strike notice covering roughly 1,100 staff members. The notice applies to facilities in Bergen, Bodø, Kristiansand, Molde, Nittedal, Sandefjord, Sarpsborg, Skien, Stavanger, Tromsø, Trondheim and Ullensaker, though not every private kindergarten in those areas will necessarily be affected. The three unions—Delta, Fagforbundet and Utdanningsforbundet—are at odds with the employer organization PBL over wage increases and pension funding.

Union negotiators argue that PBL's proposed pension cuts would effectively deny salary raises, while PBL maintains the kindergartens lack the financial capacity to meet the demands. Mediation has started, and if the parties cannot agree by the midnight deadline, a strike could commence the next morning. PBL's director, Jørn-Tommy Schjelderup, expressed a desire to avoid harming children and parents.