Sustainable Work Environment — Nordic Labour Journal

The social pillar strengthened after EU Porto summit

(May 10, 2021) The EU’s informal summit in Porto, Portugal, on 7 - 8 May ended in a declaration which strengthens the social pillar’s importance in the Union. To the relief of Nordic member states, the introduction of statutory minimum wages was not mentioned in the final document.

Passionate about seaweed: healthy, tasty and plentiful

(Apr 29, 2021) Seaweed has been rediscovered as a resource with a range of uses point out ecopreneurs and researchers. But it is also under threat from human activities.

The Nordics – a family in need of therapy?

(Mar 24, 2021) The pandemic has challenged both the Nordic cooperation and trust between Nordic citizens. But many of the challenges ahead call for joint action on climate, welfare and sustainable development. The Nordic cooperation is deadly necessary, underlines Finland, which holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021.

Norway: women engineers on the rise

(Mar 22, 2021) Ingvild Wang (24) has a master of technology from Norway’s University of Science and Technology, NTNU. She believes role models and equal education opportunities have led to a good proportion of women among young engineers.

Sweden’s century-long relationship with the ILO

(Dec 10, 2020) Sweden has had a relationship with the ILO for 100 years. Yet the country never ratified the labour organisation’s first convention. There have been tensions behind the scenes from time to time – like when the conventions have clashed with the Swedish model for collective agreements.

Iceland starting to miss "overtourism"

(Nov 11, 2020) Few countries have seen a more rapid tourism growth than Iceland. For many years, the number of tourists rose by 20 to 25% every year. This led to a debate over whether Iceland was a victim of “overtourism” like Barcelona and Venice.

Money can't buy you happiness in Iceland

(Oct 18, 2019) Families need decent wages in order to afford all the essentials. But high wages do not necessarily make families happy. There is no direct correlation between money and happiness, unless the family has real economic problems. The key to happiness is mainly spending time with family and friends.

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.

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.

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.”

Closing down the Faroes to attract more tourists

(Jun 27, 2019) The Faroe Islands are closing down. Damaged nature will be fixed. The Prime Minister for the 18 green islands in the North Atlantic is being very clear: No tourists for an entire weekend. But the Faroes were not closed down. It was all a well-prepared PR stunt to attract more tourists to the country.

Sustainable tourism in Åland – no Coca-Cola or Norwegian salmon

(Jun 27, 2019) Åland was first to implement the Green Key certification scheme for restaurants in Finland. Among the pioneers was Pub Stallhagen, where chef Johanna Dahlgren has done a huge job both as an inspirator and educator.

Åland: many travellers, far fewer overnighters

(Jun 27, 2019) Åland has just under 30 000 citizens, and more than two million annual visitors. This must mean the place is literally swarming with travellers, right?

Nordic region leading by example

(Apr 12, 2019) The most important thing the Nordics can do to contribute to the ILO is to lead by example. That was the message from the Director-General Guy Ryder during the fourth and final conference on the Future of Work, held in Reykjavik.

ILO and the Nordics: At the frontline in fight for the future of work

(Apr 12, 2019) There was a positive atmosphere as the ILO Director-General and representatives from the Nordic ministries of labour gathered in Iceland to discuss the challenges around the future of work. The Nordic model has proved to be adaptable to rapid and major change before, and the development of new technology is something people can actually control.

The changing nature of cooperation

(Feb 15, 2019) Nordic labour markets have seen major and at times dramatic changes at the start of 2019. In Sweden 4,500 employment service workers have been made redundant, in Finland sick leave levels are rising and Denmark now has two rather than three trade union confederations.

Cooperation brings better results

(Sep 07, 2018) Increased internationalisation demands better cooperation across national and traditional borders. New methods and ways of thinking need input from many sources. This concerns the art world as well as the fight against criminals. But how do you create good results?

A labour market with fair competition and conditions

(Sep 07, 2018) The Nordics and the Baltics have taken the fight against the shadow economy one step forward. The Nordic Undeclared Work Project has allowed control and inspection agencies the chance to get to know each other.

Cooperating to stop a race to the bottom

(Apr 19, 2018) Not everything is perfect, but the Nordics are doing some good things, getting down to business, highlighting problems, considering the measures, wanting to learn from others without erasing political divides. This is also the case when discussing labour market inclusion, #metoo and work-related crime. Broad cooperation aims to make sure things point in the right direction.