Norwegian government heads off bank strike, lockout

The Norwegian government will intervene in a dispute between banks, insurers and their employees to prevent an expanded strike and lockout and force them into mediation, officials said on Sunday.
Employers had responded to the threat of a wider strike by saying they would lock out 24,000 workers, which would have shut down virtually the whole financial industry in Norway.
The intervention by Labour Minister Bjarne Haakon Hanssen aims to head off the threat to the economy.
Hanssen told a news conference that a fast escalation of the conflict would have led to serious problems for society. He said a special session of government would enact the legislation needed to force the parties into mediation on Monday.
"I have asked the parties not to put the escalation into effect and to resume work as soon as possible," Hanssen, of the Labour party, said in a statement.
The strike and lockout had been expected to shut banks and halt card payments and seemed likely to lead to a shortage of cash as Norwegians hoarded notes from automatic teller machines.
"Based on a total assessment, I do not find it right to allow the threatened chaos to occur," he said in the statement.
Talks between the union and employers' federation collapsed on Saturday, creating the prospect of Norway's first banking strike in 30 years.
"All must return to work tomorrow," the 36,000-strong Finansforbundet financial sector union said on its Web site.
Finansforbundet's chief, Jorunn Berland, slammed the decision to intervene. "I am furious," she said on the union's Web site. "I wonder if we have a real right to strike in our industry."
The conflict, which began on June 1, is over rights to negotiate pension and insurance benefits.
The banks had threatened the lockout after the union had said it would expand a strike in the insurance sector, where 6,000 wage-earners are already striking, to include banks, with a walkout by 1,700 union members on Monday.
The government can end labour conflicts by forcing the parties into state-led mediation if it considers a dispute a serious threat to the economy. It has halted disputes several times in recent years in the offshore oil and gas industry.