Norwegian Air, striking pilots to hold talks with mediator

Union demands collective agreement with parent group

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's national mediator will meet with budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle and its striking pilots later in a bid to end their dispute.

"We can confirm that a meeting with the national mediator has been scheduled," Norwegian Air spokeswoman Anne-Sissel Skaanvik said. "Now we're hoping for a solution during the day."

Norway's national mediator usually intervenes in disputes when negotiations have broken down.

The pilots' union, Parat, had declined to meet a deadline set by the airline to resume talks on March 5. This led to an escalation of the dispute as Norwegian Air said it would create three new subsidiaries for its pilots in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. They have until now been employed by a single company.

"I can confirm that we will meet the company whenever and wherever to talk about the realities of a new tariff agreement," a Parat spokesman said.

The main contention has been that the 650 pilots involved in the seven-day strike want a collective labour agreement with the parent group instead of the current deal with its Norwegian Air Norway subsidiary. The company has rejected their demands.

The airline said nearly 35,000 passengers were affected by the strike on March 6.

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