Employees at Mowi, the world’s largest salmon farmer, are deeply unhappy with this year’s local wage settlement despite record results at the company, whose largest owner is the Dubai-based billionaire John Fredriksen. The food workers’ union says the talks were not genuine and that Mowi held back wage data.
Roald Jensen, a union representative for the Norwegian Food and Allied Workers’ Union (NNN) who sat on the local negotiating committee and works at a Mowi factory, did not hold back. “People are terribly disappointed,” he told E24, saying staff can see what the company and its bosses earn and the billions paid in dividends. He said the starting wage for a salmon slaughterer or production worker is about NOK 470,000, and that workers are sometimes temporarily laid off, most recently in May, when pay dropped to 62.4 per cent from the first day.
The contrast with the company’s finances is stark. Mowi had its highest revenue and harvest volumes ever in 2025, with a surplus of about NOK 8 billion, and it paid out more than NOK 3 billion to shareholders last year. Its market value is just over NOK 108 billion. Chief executive Ivan Vindheim earned about NOK 10 million last year, making him one of the best-paid bosses in the industry. Fredriksen, the main owner, has a fortune that business magazine Kapital estimates at NOK 325 billion, making him the richest person born in Norway.
Mowi declined an interview. In an email, it said it does not recognise the claims and reached agreement with the union after good, real negotiations, and that it has handed over everything union representatives asked for. Communications director Morten Bertelsen said the talks covered Mowi’s economy, productivity and competitiveness, that the sector has had two difficult years of weak prices and rising costs, and that the offer was competitive within the national framework, which set wage growth at 4.4 per cent. NNN secretary Yngve Hansen said Mowi is not taking its responsibility and warned the industry could become a low-wage sector next year, though he softened some criticism after Mowi contacted him.
A month after the settlement, the two sides still disagree on the actual percentage increase, and they are due to meet this week to go through the figures. Vindheim has called 2025 another record year and said he expects the trend to continue in 2026, which is likely to keep pressure on the company over how those gains are shared with the workers on its production lines.
