Oil industry rejects union proposal to end Norway's offshore strike 5.20 p.m. ET (2132 GMT) June 22, 2000

OSLO, Norway (AP)  Norway's oil industry association on Thursday rejected a union plan for ending a labor conflict that threatens to stop production by the world's second-largest oil exporter.

The association has said it will lock out more than 2,600 union members on Saturday morning, stopping the nation's 3.2 million barrel-per-day production, unless a settlement is reached in a strike over retirement ages.

"We have to hope and work for a solution,'' association

The Norwegian Federation of Oil Unions and an affiliated union ordered a strike by 183 members on June 10, stopping 225,000 barrels per day of production from one field. On Wednesday, it took out another 25 workers, shutting down another 50,000 barrels-per-day field.

The union has demanded that offshore workers be allowed to retire at age 57 due to the heavy demands of their job. The current retirement age is 63, compared to a national standard of 67. The employers say such a low retirement age is not justified.

On Wednesday, the union offered to end the strike if a working group was set up to study the pension problem, but the association replied that it opposes he principle of lowering the retirement age

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), June 22, 2000

Answers

Norwegian Government Orders End to Oil Workers Strike By Doug Mellgren Associated Press Writer

OSLO, Norway (AP) - The government ordered an end to a two-week strike by Norwegian offshore oil workers Friday, averting a total shutdown by the world's second-largest oil exporter. The employers had threatened to lock out 2,600 union members at midnight Saturday (6 p.m. EDT) in response to a strike over retirement age.

The lockout would have completely shut down the nation's 3.2 million barrel-per-day oil and natural gas flows.

The government ordered the strikers back to work and made continuation of the strike illegal.

"An escalation of the labor conflict through a lockout would have stopped production from all fields on the (Norwegian) continental shelf and would have major social and economic consequences," the government said in a news release. "The labor conflict would have had extremely negative consequences for Norway's credibility as a natural gas supplier."

The Norwegian Oil Industry Association immediately canceled its lockout threat.

The striking unions, although furious, also heeded the intervention.

The Norwegian Federation of Oil Unions and an affiliated union ordered a strike by 183 members on June 10, stopping 225,000 barrels per day of production from one field.

Last Wednesday, it sidelined another 25 workers, shutting down another 50,000 barrel-per-day field.

"We are very disappointed by the government's intervention in the current conflict in the oil industry," said union leader Terje Nustad.

Nustad said that it was the ninth time the government has used force to solve conflicts with the union.

He said the repeated use of back-to-work orders deprives Norwegian oil workers of their right to strike.

The conflict was about the union's demand for flexible retirement options starting at age 57. Oil workers may retire at 63, four years earlier than Norway's national standard.

The union had restricted the size of the strike, hoping to avoid binding arbitration, which Norway has often used to stop oil field conflicts.

Nustad told The Associated Press that the strikers would return to work immediately, despite the union's questions about the government's legal grounds for the back-to-work order.

The union claims the tough conditions of offshore work makes a lower retirement age essential. The oil association rejects that position.

AP-ES-06-23-00 1110EDT

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), June 23, 2000.