Comments — Nordic Labour Journal

Are left-handers discriminated against?

(Aug 11, 2022) 13 August is Left Handers Day. The day celebrates the uniqueness and differences of left-handed people and was launched 46 years ago. Yet it has still not had a major impact, and it remains a bit of a mystery why left-handed people have never organised better.

Why minimum pay has become such a hot potato

(Jan 22, 2021) Why do Finns trust that the proposed minimum wage directive will not harm their labour market model, while the Danes and Swedes have no faith in the European Commission’s assurances? And why is the debate so heated? There are several reasons.

A Norwegian NAV course seen through Latin American eyes

(May 15, 2020) I remember the day the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration, (NAV), sent me that letter answering about a non-economic help I have applied weeks before, I needed to speak with a counsellor. I said I was a journalist and that I wished to find a job which would match fields of my competence, so I wanted to speak with someone.

ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment - an issue of Decent Work?

(Oct 07, 2019) In an op-ed the Council of Nordic Trade Unions and the leaders of the Baltic Trade Union Confederations urge the eight Nordic and Baltic countries to quickly ratify the latest ILO-convention, often called the Metoo-convention.

Wages are not everything – national insurance costs important to posting of workers

(Sep 12, 2019) A Lithuanian construction worker posted to Sweden does have the right to be paid according to the Swedish Byggavtalet – the collective agreement between the Swedish Construction Federation and the Swedish Building Workers' Union.

The election night where percentage points ruled supreme

(Sep 10, 2018) Stockholm, 10th September, the day after the election...

The Nordic region – borderless yet clearly defined

(Mar 23, 2018) Municipalities on Greenland as large as the whole of France. Five countries whose economies, if combined, would be the world’s twelfth largest. Cities where 62 percent of the labour force work in knowledge intensive businesses. The Nordic region is all of this.

What is needed to include vulnerable youths into the labour market?

(Feb 08, 2018) Norway's government is calling for a joint initiative for youth inclusion. A laudable initiative. But government ministers should also look at the underlying structures if their measures are to achieve more than papering over the cracks. Perhaps we need to think differently about how to combine education and work.

Risk-based inspections on the wrong track?

(Dec 05, 2017) Nordic labour inspection authorities still have some way to go to perfect their methods for identifying businesses for inspection. But critics who imply that these authorities lack the will to seek out risk, are off target.

Everything is connected – also the Nordic region

(Nov 16, 2016) Nordic cooperation for 2017 has been given title: A Europe in transition needs a strong Nordic Region. So what is needed to build and promote the region? More sharing of knowledge? Greater focus on the Nordic welfare model? Greater focus on which values that the Nordics choose to follow? Is a more authoritarian labour market a choice the Nordics will make?

Editorial: The psychosocial challenge

(May 20, 2016) The story about Kristján from Iceland in this month’s theme illustrates how exposed young people often are in working life. When the Nordic Labour Journal shines a light on the psychosocial working environment, the story widens out. The theme shows how organisational changes are needed and how systematic efforts can turn sick leave figures on their heads.

Refugees leaving their mark

(Oct 23, 2015) “I don’t believe anyone in any government office fails to think about refugees,” says the new Director for the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) Sigrun Vågeng in the Portrait. The numbers arriving to the Nordics have broken all predictions and colour societies and their public debate.

Editorial: More than pink — it’s about power

(Mar 06, 2015) For the fifth year running the Nordic Labour Journal publishes the gender equality barometer. The division of power in the Nordic region is better than ever, but not across the board. This year we focus on religious societies, generally ruled by men. Nordic churches are different, with women as top bishops in Iceland, Norway and Sweden. But does power equal authority?

The minimum wage — threat or opportunity?

(Feb 07, 2015) Stop worrying and join the debate about a legally binding minimum wage across the EU. That’s the bombshell from Bente Sorgenfrey, the new President for the Council of Nordic Trade Unions, NFS. Is fear for the debate the real problem, or is a statutory minimum wage a real threat to the Nordic model? The Nordic Labour Journal kicks off the debate in this month’s theme.

Editorial: A piece of Nordic contemporary history

(May 08, 2014) On 22 May 1954 the agreement on a joint Nordic labour market was signed. 60 years on the Nordic Labour Journal talks to Nordic citizens who in each of the six decades tried their luck in a different Nordic country — and we look at how the agreement came to be.