Raymond Johansen will meet the management of Olivia – Dagsavisen

The case has been updated with a response from the Olivia management.

– Let me again speak directly to the management at Olivia. It is almost Easter, so let me remind you of an old rule of thumb: There is no shame in turning back, said city council leader Raymond Johansen (Ap) in his appeal to the strikers in Olivia Hegdehaugsveien.

The strikers in Olivia are unionized in Fellesforbundet and have been on strike for over six weeks, because the management has rejected their demand to introduce a collective agreement in the workplace. On Thursday, they received support from several trade unions and politicians in front of the restaurant in the center of Oslo’s west end.

Ask the bosses to come to the Town Hall

In his appeal, Raymond Johansen invited the management to a meeting in his office at City Hall.

– Are you expecting a visit from management?

– Yes, I actually expect that. We cooperated well during the pandemic, and I recognize the hotel and restaurant industry as important cornerstone businesses. We in Oslo municipality have gone to the front for proper working conditions, and I think both this strike and the justification for it are humiliating. I hope they have the courage to meet me to discuss, present and justify why they think it is unreasonable to have collective agreements, says Johansen to Dagsavisen.

See the answer to the manager of Olivia Norway, Fredrik Remmen, further down in the case.

He points out that the restaurant chain received several million from the state in corona support during the pandemic.

– The Norwegian state gave important corona support, and I gave important political support throughout the pandemic because I wanted to give them recognition, so I hope they can meet me, he says.

[ Pizzakokk slår alarm om Olivia-restaurantar: – Du blir straffa for å seie kva du meiner ]

House agreement

In mid-March, the parties met at the Riksmekleren without reaching an agreement. The employer in Olivia rejects the demand to introduce the collective union’s collective agreement, and has argued that a majority of the employees prefer a house agreement, which they refer to as a local collective agreement.

– The vast majority of our employees prefer our own collective agreement, and do not want the Federation’s agreement. The strike that Fellesforbundet is now leading outside one of our restaurants is therefore not the employees in Olivia’s strike,” wrote Fredrik Remmen, head of Olivia in Norway, in an article in Dagsavisen earlier in March.

However, Merethe Solberg in the Fellesforbundet tells Dagsavisen that they disagree with the management about whether the majority of the employees at the restaurant are organized in the Fellesforbundet, or supporters of Olivia’s housing agreement.

[ LO og NHO ble ikke enige. Nå kan det bli storstreik ]

Want to meet Raymond

– Of course we want to meet you, Raymond Johansen! writes Fredrik Remmen in an email to Dagsavisen.

He writes that he thinks it is stupid that politicians and others make statements about things on what he believes are failing and wrong grounds.

– We would rather invite Raymond Johansen to us, so that he can see with his own eyes that we have an orderly relationship in Olivia, he writes.

Remmen writes that they are among the best in the industry, and points out that they have received external awards such as the Great Place to Work award.

– We want the city council leader to meet the employees’ representatives in our local trade union, so that he can hear about this directly from the employees, says general manager Fredrik Remmen in Olivia.

The strap follows up the mountain metaphor of the city council leader.

– We turn it around a bit, and say there is no shame in letting the majority decide, he writes.

[ Du kan trygt spise hos Olivia ]

[ Ikke spis hos Olivia ]