The strike began on Friday after mediation talks on wages and working conditions between unions, SAS and the national mediator broke down.
Some 120 SAS staff were taken out of work by unions on Friday morning, which SAS said would cause “minimum disruption on Friday.” By the end of the weekend, the number of staff on strike would increase to 152.
The United Federation of Trade Unions (Fellesforundet) said Friday that all 550 unionised SAS cabin crew staff would strike from Wednesday.
“We see no other solution than to drive hard against SAS. We are therefore announcing a sharp escalation of the strike from next Wednesday, when we will withdraw all our cabin crew in SAS, around 550, including the 115 (on strike already),” Jørn Eggum, leader of the United Federation of Trade Unions, told the newspaper VG.
Parat, another trade union representing staff in the dispute, said it would withdraw its 240 cabin crew on Wednesday also.
The proposed escalation would likely severely disrupt the airline’s air traffic to and from Norway.
Cabin crew employees at SAS are striking over wages. Unions have said cabin staff at the airline are the worst paid in Norway, with new hires earning 27,500 kroner per month before tax and no additional pay for working weekends, evenings, or nights.
Unions also said that SAS staff operating out of Norway earn 15 to 30 percent less than the staff at competing airline Norwegian Air Shuttle.
Workers are also working for two weekends off per month to allow for a guaranteed work-life balance.
SAS has endured a turbulent few years and is undergoing bankruptcy protection and financial restructuring.
“It is particularly unfortunate to have a conflict in a situation where the company is under bankruptcy protection and restructuring and is still losing money. This conflict contributes to making an already difficult situation even more difficult,” Erik Lahnstein from NHO Luftfart, the branch of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) representing the aviation industry, told business new outlet E24.
Passengers affected by the strike may be entitled to compensation from the airline. However, those who cancel their tickets will lose their rights to a refund and compensation.
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