Demanding changes for guides

Long days, poor pay, hard physical and mental work, and lack of overtime pay. Elida Langstein and Piotrek Damski want to do something about it.

Elida Langstein and Piotrek Damski organized a meeting for Svalbard guides in February. They are hope to improve the working conditions of the profession.

Line Nagell Ylvisåker

Publisert torsdag 15. mars 2018 - 08:14

"People last for a few seasons get let go or burned out and leave the profession," said Elida Langstein. "It must be taken care of to keep experienced guides. That will increase the quality and safety of the tourism product, and the stability of the population in Longyearbyen."

She finished the Arctic Natural Guide program in 2015 and started working for one of the guide companies in the city.

"I signed the contract without reading it;" Langstein said. "Then I began to wonder where the overtime was going and about red days."