All Articles — Nordic Labour Journal

Iceland’s unemployment soars fivefold

(May 15, 2020) In just four weeks, unemployment in Iceland rose fivefold. At the end of February, 10,000 people had no jobs. By the end of March, the number was 50,000. This has never happened before, says Unnur Sverrisdóttir, head of Iceland’s Directorate of Labour VMST.

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.

A Nordic state of emergency

(Apr 15, 2020) The corona epidemic has closed borders in the Nordic region and the rest of the world. In most countries governments have increased their powers and citizenship has become more important, while personal freedom has been restrained.

Most issues now have a gender dimension

(Mar 06, 2020) The 8th of March is being marked in many different ways across the Nordics. What is the most important issue on International Women’s Day? We look at what has happened after women again have managed to gain more positions of political power in Finland, how the fight for equal pay is doing in Sweden and what Denmark is doing to fight sexual harassment in the workplace.

Nordic visions of more children and fewer suicides

(Feb 16, 2020) The Nordic cooperation's symbol is a swan. But black swans also symbolise the unexpected. This newsletter is about both birth and death. Assistant nurses play an important role in what happens between those two events.

Torbjørn Røe Isaksen takes on tricky government post

(Feb 12, 2020) Torbjørn Røe Isaksen became Norway’s new Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion on 24 January. It is the least sought-after government post right now, after the biggest legal scandal in the country’s history. But Isaksen has ambitions.

The North Sea Diver – working under pressure

(Feb 11, 2020) There are few stories describing working life in Norway’s offshore oil industry, despite the massive impact the sector has had on the country’s economy. Now a new book details one of most remarkable new occupations that emerged from the industry – the deep sea divers. The author is Swedish Hans Claesson.

The Nordic cooperation has three clear goals

(Jan 20, 2020) The Nordic cooperation will soon be going through major changes. A new vision is to be turned into practical politics within three strategic areas. This special edition of the Nordic Labour Journal looks at what is happening in the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The skewed distribution of welfare

(Dec 17, 2019) In Finland, there has been a government crisis. In Sweden, the politicians quarrel over the Public Employment Service and in Norway the scandal where thousands were branded benefit cheats, continues. At the same time, the gap between the poor and the rich is slowly but surely increasing - even in the Faroe Islands where growth has been highest.

Fraud in the welfare state

(Nov 27, 2019) The word fraud has been used a lot in the welfare debate in the Nordics this autumn. In Norway, the “NAV scandal” has been dominating the news. In Denmark, an employee at the National Board of Social Services is in court charged with embezzling more than 100 million Danish kroner, while unemployment statistics for Sweden have been compromised.

A portrait of the richest of the rich in Finland

(Nov 27, 2019) Who are the richest one in a thousand in Finland – the euro millionaires? How do they view themselves and other Finns? These issues are being explored in one of the most discussed books this autumn: Huipputuloiset – or something like The Top Earners in English.

The multi-faceted fight against sexual harassment

(Oct 18, 2019) This October it is two years since the American actor Alyssa Milano sent out the first tweet with the hashtag #metoo. That set off a reaction that spread from Twitter to the streets and into the corridors of power. Suddenly sexualised violence and harassment was being discussed in a new way. But what has really changed in these three years?

Eva Nordmark's task: to liberalise Sweden’s employment act and reform the employment service

(Oct 18, 2019) When former TCO President Eva Nordmark accepted to replace Ylva Johansson as Sweden’s Minister for Employment, she also accepted to follow up on proposals she had been critical of in the past, like the liberalisation of the employment act.

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.

The Nordics, the EU and the climate

(Sep 12, 2019) New labour ministers have recently been appointed in three of the Nordic countries. In Finland and Denmark as a result of elections, in Sweden because the government nominated Ylva Johansson to a role as a new EU commissioner.

Timo Harakka’s challenge: to increase employment in Finland

(Sep 12, 2019) Much is expected from the new Finnish Minister of Employment Timo Harakka. His background is unusual for a politician. The ministerial post came as a surprise to him too. As an MP he focused on the economy and the environment.

Peter Hummelgaard: aims to secure early retirement for tired workers

(Sep 12, 2019) The Danish labour market is facing major changes if Minister for Employment Peter Hummelgaard manages to get support for his plans. He wants to fight for fairer conditions for people with lower levels of education and for those in low-paid jobs.

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.

How to change the world

(Jun 29, 2019) In this edition of the Nordic Labour Journal, we write about the ILO, the Treaty of Versailles and tourism. In a funny way, they are all linked.

Guy Ryder: The multinational system must understand the importance of work issues

(Jun 28, 2019) The ILO has celebrated its centenary. In a jubilant tweet from Geneva, Guy Ryder summed up the 108th session of the International Labour Conference: “We had big ambitions for this Conference, and it was a record breaker in every sense. We emerged with a new Convention, a new Recommendation and a Declaration that will take us forward to meet the challenges of tomorrow.”