Management and employees at Olivia’s restaurant in Hegdehaugsveien in Oslo have agreed to a new collective agreement. Thus, the strike of nearly two months ended.

The conflict revolves around the fact that the Federation and the employees at the restaurant are demanding a mutual agreement. Management claims that most employees do not want such a deal.

On Tuesday, the parties met in the Riksmekleren.

– Now there is a collective agreement on Olivia Hegdehaugsveien, it has been drawn up and comes into force from today, Stig Lundsbakken, head of the Federation’s collective bargaining department, informs Oslo newspaper after the meeting.

The restaurant management themselves believe that this agreement will worsen the condition of employees. They have long protested the Federation’s demands and believe the majority do not want a collective union agreement.

– Dividing employees

According to general manager Fredrik Remmen at Olivia’s Restaurant, they will sign anyway to end the strike.

– We now see that the burden on our employees in restaurants in Hegdehaugsveien has become too great. This had been going on for a long time, and even though the Federation had low support, they divided the employee pool at the restaurant, Remmen said.

According to HR manager Kristin Arnkværn, their recently negotiated collective agreement between the Housing Association and the management at Olivia was better.

– The agreement creates a floor

“Fellesforbundet won the battle over the restaurant in Hegdehaugsveien, but the employees there were left as losers, because the Fellesforbundet deal was worse than our local mutual agreement,” he wrote in an email to Avisa Oslo.

Joint unions reject this and point out that collective agreements create the basis for working conditions. Nothing prevents a restaurant from offering better terms than the minimum terms in the agreement.

(© NTB)