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TODAY IN NORWAY

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Monday 

Norway's public sector strike ramps up, air travel could be affected by walkout and, other news from Norway on Monday. 

Pictured is one of Oslo's scenic side streets.
Find out what's going on in Norway on Monday with The Local's short roundup of important news. Pictured is one of Oslo's scenic side streets. Photo by Richard Hatleskog on Unsplash

Norway’s state sector strike is ramped up 

More than 3,500 public sector employees will be on strike in Norway on Monday, with the police, students and passport officers affected by the action. 

Norway’s justice sector will be one of the hardest hit areas by the strike. 

“It will affect passports, investigations and preventive measures in the police,” Unn Alma Skatvold from the Norwegian police federation said to Dagens Næringsliv

Several other ministries and agencies, such as The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), The Norwegian Tax Administration, and public universities are affected. 

Workers in the Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations (Akademikerne) and the Confederation of Unions for Professionals (Unio) are on strike over wages and the structure or the collective bargaining agreement offered. 

Travel out of Bergen and Oslo airports could be affected by strikes 

Airport workers and employers have failed to come to an agreement by midnight mediation deadline, and a strike could be announced on Monday. 

Mediator Carl Petter Martinsen told NRK that while some progress has been made, more must be done. 

If an agreement isn’t reached, around 400 workers at Oslo Airport Gardermoen and Bergen Airport Flesland could strike – which could greatly impact travel into and out of both airports. 

Issues with Nynorsk exams 

Norway’s Directorate of Education has apologised after several errors were found in its Nynorsk exam at the high school level. 

Students who sat the exam found that the final test was full of errors. The tasks were written by the Norwegian Directorate of Education. 

Per Kristian Larsen-Evjen, a department director at the Directorate of Education, said the issues were due to a internal failure in their quality assurance routines. 

He said that students would not have their results affected by the errors made by the education directorate. 

Michelin stars in Norway to be announced 

Michelin stars for the Nordic region will be awarded at a presentation in Helsinki on Monday. 

At the last ceremony, 20 Norwegian restaurants were recognised with stars. However, since then, some establishments have restructured or closed their doors. 

Sven Erik Renaa, founder of the Renaa restaurant group and two-star restaurant Re-naa, was optimistic that more restaurants would be recognised for their hard work. 

I think there will definitely be three or four new stars for Norway this year. And I don’t think that much will change when it comes to the restaurants that have already been awarded Michelin stars. Including us, I think it will be the status quo,” Renaa told Norwegian newswire NTB. 

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TODAY IN NORWAY

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Monday

Norway to provide Ukraine with energy security, 11 billion kroner needed for railway maintenance, and many people on sick leave. This and other news from Norway on Monday.

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Monday

Norway to give 1.1 billion to Ukraine for energy security

Norway announced Sunday that it would provide 1.1 billion kroner to help Ukraine repair its energy supply and secure the country’s electricity supply.

Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre was among the leaders of 92 countries to meet at a summit in Switzerland to discuss a future path to peace with Russia.

“There is a lot of focus on the support for Ukraine’s military defense efforts, but an important part of the Nansen package is to support civilian purposes.

“Repairing the destruction of the electricity supply in Ukraine is something Norway has good expertise in,” Støre told Norwegian newswire NTB.

“In some cases, access to electricity can be the difference between life and death,” he added.

According to estimates the Norwegian government has received, around half of Ukraine’s energy production has been destroyed.

Massive investment needed into rail maintenance in Norway

Some 11 billion kroner is required in order to repair tracks in Norway, according to network rail operator Bane Nor.

“This year’s report clearly shows that there must be an investment in upgrading more facilities if the railway is to meet society’s expectations and demands for punctuality and reliability,” Sverre Kjenne, executive director for digitisation and technology at Bane Nor, said.

At the end of last month, Bane Nor and the Ministry of Transport were criticised for trains in Norway not being punctual enough. Bane Nor pointed to insufficient maintenance resources as one reason for lateness.

Around a fifth of Norway’s railway facilities need some kind of maintenance.

Sickness absence still high in Norway

The number of people on sick leave in Norway remains high, with this mainly driven by mental illness, respiratory diseases and “long Covid”, Norway’s Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) has said.

The last time sick leave was so high in Norway was in 2004 and 2009.

“Sickness absence has not decreased again as expected after the pandemic, which is serious. This analysis shows that the increase has affected many people and that the reasons are very complex. Now the challenge is to find good solutions and measures,” director of employment and welfare Hans Christian Holte.

Sale of soft drinks in Norway continues to rise

The sale of soft drinks in Norway has more than doubled over the past ten years, according to figures from national data agency Statistics Norway.

Beer, wine and spirits sales have also increased by between 10 and 20 percent since 2019.

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