Parat, the labour organization representing Norwegian flight attendants in Norway, has called off a strike scheduled for Wednesday this week. The strike, which would have shut down Norwegian Air services, was averted after seven hours of mediation over fears flight attendants may lose their current pay and benefits if Norwegian decides to transfer them out of the main company and into new units. More talks are being held today and Parat may still call a strike for Friday after giving just four days’ notice.
These fears have been stoked again by a report by newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) that claimed to have seen documents that show the Norwegian is planning to transfer around 200 Danish flight attendants to the employment agency Proffice and lease them back as part of its restructuring programme. This is despite the announcement from airline CEO Bjørn Kjos that workers will retain their current pay and benefits.