Norwegian unions, employers agree to wage increase

Deal covers workers in oil industry

OSLO (Reuters) — Norwegian labour unions and Norway's biggest employers' organization have agreed a wage deal for 2017, avoiding a strike, the two announced on Tuesday.

The agreement between LO and YS, two umbrella groups for Norwegian unions, and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), the employers' organization, covers a broad section of manufacturing workers and is expected to set guidelines for other wage talks in Norway.

The agreement will result in a 2.4 per cent increase in wages, the groups said.

"Wages in Norway are among the highest in Europe. Therefore, the rise in wages at home has to be lower than in the countries we compete with," said Kristin Skogen Lund, the head of the NHO.

The deal includes workers in the oil industry, but employees working on many offshore drilling rigs will hold their own talks later.

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