Labour Law

Nordic opposition to minimum wage shows lack of solidarity?

(May 22, 2012) Should we have a statutory minimum wage? Absolutely not say Nordic trade unions, and they’re usually backed by employers’ organisations. It’s an attitude people elsewhere in Europe find difficult to understand.

Home address stops Valgerður’s maternity pay

(Apr 15, 2012) An Icelandic woman who lives in Iceland but works for an Oslo-based business experienced the cross border commuter’s nightmare. Despite contributing to Norway’s national insurance fund since 2003, she receives no maternity pay. She doesn’t even know who will pay the hospital bill for when she gave birth to her son. Neither Norway nor Iceland wants to pay.

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir: The gender pay gap is now the most important equality issue

(Mar 08, 2012) Iceland’s Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir has managed what many thought near impossible. She has cut public spending in the wake of the market crash without negatively impacting Iceland’s social security system.

The Commission wants to exclude small businesses from working environment rules

(Feb 10, 2012) In the Nordic countries small businesses must follow the same working environment rules as big businesses. Now the EU Commission wants to ease the regulations for smaller businesses.

Trine Lise Sundnes: Nordic workers’ voice at the ILO

(Jan 31, 2012) The most important labour-regulating conventions were first introduced in Europe before being exported to countries elsewhere. Yet these same rights are now under threat from European countries looking for more ways to cut costs in the face of the economic crisis, says Trine Lise Sundnes, who represents Nordic workers on the ILO’s governing body.

Loa Brynjulfsdottir wants to defend the collective agreement model

(Dec 12, 2011) Loa Brynjulfsdottir is the new general secretary at the Council of Nordic Trade Unions, NFS. Her top priority is to further defend the Nordic collective agreement model. It is under pressure from the more regulations-based way in which labour market issues are dealt with within the EU.

British unions on the warpath

(Dec 01, 2011) "This is just the beginning," said union leader Len McCluskey when nearly two million public sector workers joined the UK's largest strike in 30 years. On 30 November schools, hospitals, docks and airports were hit.

Norwegian government to tackle involuntary part-time work

(Sep 07, 2011) “Involuntary part-time work is a serious problem both for individuals and for society as a whole. It is the government’s goal to reduce involuntary part-time work and to make sure those who wish can get full-time employment,” says Minister of Labour Hanne Bjurstrøm.

Staffing agencies challenging the Nordic model

(Apr 07, 2011) From time to time 'The Great Debate" over the role of staffing agencies rolls out in the Nordic countries, despite the fact they provide a only a small percentage of the workforce.

Black market cleaning a major problem for Norway's cleaning industry

(Apr 07, 2011) Are staffing agencies just one step on the road towards an even more flexible labour marked, where those performing services become their own employers? NHO Service, the employers' organisation for Norway's cleaning industry, is sounding the alarm over an increase in cleaning businesses from 2,000 to 6,500 over just a few years.

EU directive on temporary agency work could reduce social dumping

(Apr 07, 2011) Trade unions believe the EU directive on temporary agency work will see fewer staffing agencies pushing down salaries and working conditions.

Temporary work agencies: misfits in Nordic working life?

(Apr 07, 2011) This year will see the implementation of the EU directive on temporary agency work which is meant to improve labour mobility and facilitate the growth in temporary work agencies. It will also lay down demands for equal treatment of permanent staff and workers recruited through temporary work agencies.

Time for transnational collective agreements?

(Mar 07, 2011) This year workers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden will be told how many shares they have earned in the French corporation Suez S.A.

Will Lex Laval work?

(Nov 02, 2010) On 9 September the Swedish Building Workers' Union (Byggnads) took industrial action against a Lithuanian company building a school in Höllviken in Southern Sweden. The union demanded the company paid its Lithuanian workers according Swedish salary agreements. Are we heading towards a new Laval ruling?