Articles • Nov 20, 2024 • 3 minutes
Unio and Akademikerne Retain Their Own Collective Agreements Until 2026
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On November 20, 2024, the National Wage Board (Rikslønnsnemnda) issued three rulings related to the 2024 state settlement. The key outcome is that Akademikerne and Unio will retain their existing main collective agreements with the state until April 30, 2026. Additionally, the Board decided that members of LO Stat will be transferred to the YS collective agreement. These decisions mean that the parties must return to the negotiating table to establish a unified main collective agreement for the state from 2026 onwards.
Background
Currently, there are two sets of similar main collective agreements in the state sector. The state has entered into two similar agreements with Unio and Akademikerne, and two similar agreements with LO and YS—making a total of four main collective agreements. The scope of agreement for Unio/Akademikerne is by far the largest, representing members with relatively high levels of education.
The most significant difference between the collective agreement sets is that, under the Unio/Akademikerne agreements, wage growth is distributed locally at each workplace, whereas the LO/YS agreements have featured large general increases.
This year, the state demanded that all four main collective agreements move to a single, unified collective agreement, offering that 75% of wage increases would be distributed locally. YS accepted this offer. LO’s negotiators also accepted the offer, but LO’s members later rejected it in a referendum and requested that the wage settlement be resolved by voluntary arbitration (Rikslønnsnemnda). LO argued that the state’s offer relied too heavily on local wage negotiations and wanted to retain the wage steps and scales in their agreement (which were removed in the state’s proposal). In contrast, Unio and Akademikerne wanted all wage growth to be distributed locally, as in their current agreements. As a result, Akademikerne and Unio went on strike earlier this year to preserve their own collective agreements, which ultimately led to compulsory arbitration.
When the state met with Akademikerne and Unio at the National Wage Board on November 7, the state argued that the new agreement should apply to them. The same demand was made to LO Stat in the case on November 15.
Rulings in Compulsory Arbitration Between Unio/Akademikerne and the State
Both Unio and Akademikerne demanded to retain their own collective agreements until April 30, 2026. They argued, among other things, that the freedom to negotiate sets limits on the substantive changes the state can achieve through compulsory arbitration, and that these limits would clearly be exceeded if the state’s demands were granted.
The National Wage Board decided that the agreements will be continued until April 30, 2026. Furthermore, the decisions require that local negotiations take place within a framework of 2.7% of the total wage bill. These negotiations must be concluded by February 15, 2025. For Akademikerne and Unio members covered by Section 26a of the Public Service Disputes Act, the effective date is set to May 1, 2024. For the remaining, the effective date for the settlement is set to June 2, 2024, for Akademikerne and June 5, 2024, for Unio (the last days of the strikes).
It is also worth noting that the neutral members of the National Wage Board repeatedly emphasized in their rulings that any need for changes to the main collective agreement should be resolved through negotiations between the parties. This supports the view that Akademikerne and Unio will continue to have genuine negotiating rights in 2026.
Ruling in Voluntary Arbitration Between LO Stat and the State
LO Stat’s principal argument was that the YS agreement could form the basis for a single main collective agreement, but that several changes were necessary. Among other things, LO Stat wanted greater central coordination, including a role for the main confederations in wage formation and the ability to intervene in local negotiation results. LO Stat also insisted that the state could not remove wage steps and scales. LO demanded that the central parties address wage disparities between organizations and groups, and that documented wage differences could be brought before the State Wage Committee. Alternatively, if the panel concluded that different main agreements should apply in the state sector, LO Stat demanded various changes to the main collective agreements.
The state, on the other hand, demanded that the YS agreement should apply to LO Stat members and affiliated organizations without the changes requested by LO Stat. The state pointed out that LO Stat introduced several new demands for adjustments to the agreement during the dispute resolution process, and that the basis for the dispute is the demands/offers presented during negotiations. The state therefore asked the Board to disregard these additional demands.
In summary, the National Wage Board sided with the state, setting the effective date for central increases and those granted after local negotiations under section 2.5.1 of the main collective agreement to May 1, 2024. The Board also decided that local negotiations must be concluded as quickly as possible, and no later than February 15, 2025.
The Board’s decisions can be read in full here:
