(Bloomberg) -- Payments firm Klarna Bank AB could soon face a strike at its Swedish headquarters if a collective bargaining agreement isn’t reached with two employee unions.

The Unionen and Swedish Engineering unions said their members will strike on Nov. 7 if they don’t achieve a deal with the buy-now-pay-later provider, according to a statement. 

“Our hope is that we can come to an agreement before conflict breaks out,” said Martin Wastfelt from Unionen.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna’s chief executive officer, said in a social media post that unionized employees had believed they could decide for themselves whether they wanted to take action, but were being told by unions they would be barred from membership and lose their pay if they don’t strike.

“The primary focus for us right now is our employees who are in shock,” he said.

Negotiations with the unions have been ongoing for the past eight months but have now stalled with Klarna accused by the unions of canceling and postponing meetings to negotiate. A collective bargaining agreement — which would herald changes to terms of employment, working hours, vacations and job security — has been discussed for several years, the unions said.

Read More: Klarna Hit With Union Demands to Start Collective Bargaining

Klarna losses narrowed in the first half of the year as its growing customer base continued to pay back their buy-now-pay-later debts in the face of inflation pressures. The firm said its rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT helped it keep a lid on costs even as it grew. Overall, operating expenses fell 14% in the first half of the year. 

(Updates to add CEO comments from fourth paragraph.)

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