About 16,000 construction workers went on strike in Norway on Sunday after talks with employers broke down. The workers, affiliated to the Fellesforbundet union confederation, accused employers in a statement of failing to meet demands for a national pay scale and a higher minimum wage Talks between construction workers and employers broke down after all-night talks.
The strike will not affect oil and gas production by Norway, the world's number three exporter.
But the stoppage could slow work on projects including Norsk Hydro's gas processing plant for the big Ormen Lange Field and Statoil's onshore plant for gas from the On Saturday, most private sector industrial unions in Norway, also part of Fellesforbundet, agreed a pay deal for 2006-07, averting a threatened strike.