Aircraft technicians to strike with ground staff potentially following suit 

75 aircraft technicians will strike from Monday, joining those who already decided to take industrial action over wage rises on Saturday to around a quarter of the available workforce in Norway. 

At present, it is unclear how the strike will affect air traffic. More airport staff could be taken out on strike as ground staff voted down the collective bargaining agreement offered to them. 

On Monday, the union representing ground staff and the employer organisation will meet with the ombudsman. 

Recently, Avinor, which operates Norwegian airports, has said that it isn’t concerned by the prospect of strikes this summer. 

READ ALSO: Norwegian airports not concerned over summer queuing

NIPH expects a small summer Covid wave

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) expects a small wave of infections this summer was driven by Omicron sub-variant BA.5. 

“We are expecting another small wave,” Preben Aavitsland from the NIPH told Newswire NTB.

“But we do not think it will be as big as in February-April. This means that there are a few hundred thousand Norwegians who will be infected, some for the second time,” Aaavitsland added. 

Despite predictions of a summer wave, new measures probably won’t be introduced. 

“It is very unlikely that we will recommend other measures than a fourth vaccine dose to some groups. It is likely that those over 65 and risk groups will be recommended a fourth dose at some point,” Aavitsland said. 

Foreigners on Svalbard lose voting rights

Foreign residents without a connection to mainland Norway will lose the right to vote and the opportunity to sit on the local council in Svalbard, local newspaper Svalbardposten writes. 

Residents must have had a minimum of three years of residence in a Norwegian municipality on the mainland to vote on the Arctic archipelago. 

The change is effective immediately ahead of next year’s local election. Currently, there is only one foreigner who is a member of the local government on Svalbard, a Swede. The Swedish national said the new rules were disappointing. 

“It will be a very, very small group that will be able to represent everyone,” Olivia Ericson told public broadcaster NRK. 

The voting rule change will affect 700 of Svalbard’s 2,500 population. 

Train passengers feel they aren’t given enough information on delays

Generally, Norwegian rail passengers are satisfied with the service abord trains but wish the information provided in the event of cancellations and delays was better, according to the Norwegian Railway Directorate’s latest customer survey.