Social Partners
Articles on the Social Partners.
Nordic governments' sigh of relief as collective bargaining rights still intact
Pilots and cabin crew do not perform work of equal value, thus it is not discriminatory when pilots receive higher travel allowances. This was the somewhat anticlimactic ruling from the EU Court of Justice in a case that Sweden and Denmark feared would set a precedent that could threaten the right to free collective bargaining. That did not happen this time.
Mixed Nordic reception for EU traineeship directive
Once again, the European Commission is proposing regulations on matters that the member states manage best themselves, argues the Swedish parliament. It is now submitting a “yellow card” against the Commission's proposal for an EU directive on better conditions for trainees, put forward in spring 2024.
Mobilising for a strong social Europe
On 16 April, a new social declaration on the future of employment policy covering the years 2024 to 2019 was adopted in Belgian La Hulpe. The La Hulpe Declaration was signed by the Belgian Presidency on behalf of 25 countries. Sweden and Austria were the only EU states not to sign.
Leaders' lack of knowledge about the Norwegian model threatens competitiveness
Anyone who wants to lead a Norwegian business should understand the Norwegian model. But far from all leaders do, according to Ketil Vedøy, who has spent more than 20 years as a top leader within HR and management. He participated at the launch of this year’s Medbestemmelsesbarometer (Joint decision-making barometer) at OsloMet/AFI.
Tripartite negotiations as a model for the green transition
The fight for a just green transition is taking place in several and very different arenas. While strike guards brave the cold of winter outside Tesla workshops in Sweden and climate negotiators meet in the heat of Dubai, Nordic employers, trade unions and government ministers gathered in Reykjavik.
Can the Nordic labour markets survive the green transition?
Nearly one in three Nordic citizens worry they might lose their jobs because of the green transition, according to a new Nordregio survey. How can the social partners work together to make the transition as fair as possible? That was the theme during the Nordic dialogue conference in Iceland.
Nordic employers’ important role in the green transition
When we talk about the Nordic labour market model, it often revolves around how high the unionisation rate is. However, it is equally important that employers are organised if good agreements are to be made.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise on Nordic cooperation
How does the Nordic cooperation on the employers' side look today? The Nordic Labour Journal asked the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise to answer a list of questions and got the following answers from their Press Secretary Olle Bring.
The Tesla strike – a fight for the Swedish model
A drama is taking place in the Swedish labour market. The trade union IF Metall is taking industrial action to get EV maker Tesla to sign a collective agreement. Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest people and Tesla’s main shareholder, refuses. After many sympathy actions from other trade unions, he is taking the Swedish state to court.
Was the Reykjavik tripartite meeting the start of something new?
Did it turn into just another of the thousands of meetings around the world on the green transition? Or did something more happen as Nordic politicians, employers and trade unions met in Reykjavik on 1 December? The Icelandic Presidency had great ambitions for this meeting.
Iceland’s Labour Minister: Challenges of a fair green transition must be faced together
Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson has been Iceland’s Minister of Social Affairs, Labour and Nordic Cooperation since 2021. In that role, he has led Iceland’s Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers this year and will chair a summit with representatives from Nordic trade unions, employers and governments in Reykjavik in December.
Denmark and Sweden on the barricades over pilots and crew compensation
Denmark and Sweden are once again out defending the Nordic labour market model. This time it is about a new case before the EU Court questioning whether cabin crew receiving lower allowances than pilots constitutes gender discrimination.
Finland’s new government wants major changes to labour law
A new centre-right government started governing in Finland on 20 June after winning April’s elections, and there is now talk of an historic paradigm change. Petteri Orpo’s four party coalition wants to make major changes in the labour market.
Morten Skov Christiansen new head of the Danish Trade Union Confederation
A new President of the Danish Trade Union Confederation FH has been unanimously voted in by members.
Crisis at the top of Denmark’s trade union movement
There is a change of leadership at the Danish Trade Union Confederation FH after allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Iceland's heated trade union row over – but embers remain
On 28 April, The Icelandic Confederation of Labour (ASÍ) elected Finnbjörn A. Hermannsson as new president. He was the only one who ran.
25 per cent of Norwegian workers say they have lost influence
One in four workers in Norway feel they have lost influence in the workplace, according to the 2022 Medbestemmelsesbarometeret (Joint decision-making barometer). This is felt most acutely among public sector workers.
The labour ministers consider collective agreements' position in the Nordics
The Nordic governments should introduce a new kind of support where employers who sign up to collective agreements pay lower employer taxes for their employees. That was what Fafo researcher Jon Erik Dølvik proposed when he presented a report about collective agreements in the Nordics during the Nordic labour ministers’ meeting.
Nordic trade unions “too distant from rest of EU”
Who gains the most out of being a fly on the wall at the Council of Nordic Trade Unions congress in Oslo – the journalist or the social anthropologist? I suspect the latter, but since I am a journalist I will present the big news first: Iceland will host a tripartite meeting on green and just reform on 1 December 2023.
Will the climate issue rejuvenate Nordic trade unions?
What signals were the most important to come out of the NFS congress in Oslo? We asked Ragnhild Lied, President of the Union confederation, to sum up her impressions. “What is clear now is that we are experiencing so many crises at once,” she says.
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