Norwegian version of this page

Labour conflict

Within certain limits, the parties in the labour market can resort to industrial action – by employees going on strike or employers imposing a lockout – in order to advance their demands.

  • Such measures can only be used during wage negotiations, i.e. when entering into a new collective agreement or revising an existing collective agreement. This is referred to as dispute of interest between the parties.
  • In the public sector, negotiations for new main collective agreements (regjeringen.no) (only in Norwegian) take place every other year. The parties can also agree to revise the main collective agreements in intermediate years, known as intermediate negotiations. During these periods, when the parties negotiate new agreements, it is possible to resort to industrial action.
  • Outside of wage negotiations, the parties are not allowed to resort to such measures. This is known as a peace obligation. Any disputes related to the interpretation of agreements must be resolved through negotiations or in the labour court.
  • Please refer also to the booklet Arbeidskonflikter i staten (regjeringen.no) (only in Norwegian), which provides guidelines for work stoppages and other industrial actions.
  • For employers, specific information pages regarding the risk of strike (only in Norwegian) have been prepared. Access to these pages is restricted, and access will be updated if such a situation arises (not during the peace obligation). For questions related to access, please contact ap-streik@admin.uio.no.
Published May 24, 2024 1:34 PM - Last modified May 24, 2024 1:34 PM