Farmers from all over the country demonstrate outside the Storting on Thursday morning. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB
Of NTB | 18.04.2024 08:33:07
Economy and business: – We have received clear feedback that it is unfair that a full-time worker in agriculture has more hours than others. That is why we are putting forward a proposal to reduce the number of hours, says chairman of the industry committee at the Storting Willfred Nordlund (Sp).
The proposal from the Center Party and the Labor Party is delivered just before the matter is to be heard in the Storting on Thursday morning, and at the same time as several farmers are demonstrating outside the building.
Previously, the governing parties wanted to base 1,845 hours in a year’s work for farmers in their new income calculation and escalation plan for agriculture.
This has caused a lot of noise, and several opposition parties have demanded that the number of hours must be lowered to 1700.
– We hope for support from everyone who wants to increase the farmer’s income opportunities, increase Norwegian food production and strengthen overall preparedness. Now anyway the plan has to be in place, and then we can start implementing it at the agricultural settlement in a month’s time, he says.
Ap and Sp point out that 1,750 hours is the standard in the construction and service industry.
– We are reducing the number of hours by 100 hours and halving the norm compared to 1970. At the same time, the farmers’ wage level must be compared to an average wage at the level of teachers and nurses. This is an increase of 9 percent. This lays the foundation for farmers to get more in return for the hugely important job they do of producing good Norwegian food, says business policy spokesperson Rune Støstad in the Labor Party.
The farmers’ organizations and the opposition parties have also reacted strongly to other parts of the plan. Among other things, they have accused the government of inflating the farmer’s income by 20 per cent in “air money”.
Beyond the number of hours, the governing parties propose no changes to their original plan.
It is still uncertain how the other parties will react to the new proposal.
Nordlund now hopes that the other parties will stand behind their proposal of 1,750. They propose that the reduction should take place in three equal parts until 2027.
The new income calculation is part of a larger plan for increased self-sufficiency and scaling up in agriculture.
(© NTB)