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12 recommendations to get more people in vulnerable groups into working life
Feb 26, 2025 The need to increase labour market participation among vulnerable groups in the Nordics has long been high on the Nordic Council of Ministers’ agenda. A new report points to flexibility, individually tailored support and cooperation with employers as the key to success. NAV employees in Trondheim are already on the ball.
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Nordic police cooperation – from policy to reality
Feb 26, 2025 Criminal networks operate where there is money, across borders. A new police station on the actual border between Norway and Sweden will soon be inaugurated, and in Malmö, there is an operations centre staffed by both Danish and Swedish police.
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Karen Ellemann: Nordic cooperation more important than ever
Jan 30, 2025 The Arctic has gone from being a region characterised by peaceful cooperation to a geopolitical flashpoint. This week, the Nordic Council of Ministers launched its tenth Arctic programme during the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø. It allocates 30 million Danish kroner (€4m) over three years to strengthen social, economic and environmental sustainability.
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The Nordics lag behind in the fight against economic crime
Jan 30, 2025 Economic crime is a threat to the Nordic welfare societies, warned this year’s conference on the black economy. The fight against creative and innovative criminals needs more resources and better legislation, the trade union movement argues.
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Collective bargaining – where exactly does the EU stand?
Jan 30, 2025 Will there be any real change when the EU now aims to promote collective bargaining at all levels – or is it just pretty words? This was one of the questions discussed at a Nordic conference on current EU issues at the end of 2024.
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Icelandic fisheries risk zero capelin catch for the second year in a row
Nov 25, 2024 Capelin has been one of the most valuable species for the Icelandic fisheries industry and general economy this past decade. Its importance has varied, but throughout this century capelin products have accounted for 17 per cent of fisheries exports and 8 per cent of the market value, making it an important part of the industry.
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Difficult conditions for trans people in the Nordic labour market
Nov 25, 2024 Trans people are a particularly vulnerable group in working life and face higher unemployment levels, often insecure employment, lower pay and higher rates of sick leave than the majority population. This is according to the report ”Trans People’s Working Life Conditions in the Nordic Countries”, which was presented at a Nordic conference in October.
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Improved Nordic labour market statistics provide better insights
Oct 22, 2024 The Nordic Statistics Database, a collaboration between the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Swedish statistics and research company Statisticon, has undergone huge developments. This will benefit anyone working with comparative Nordic assessment statistics in working life.
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Swedish strip club challenges ban on night work
Oct 22, 2024 Should the employees at the strip club Club Heartbeat be allowed to work all night? No, says the Swedish Work Environment Authority. Yes, says the club’s owner, referring to a new collective agreement that allows exceptions to the Working Hours Act.
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Iceland facing watershed moment as PM calls snap elections
Oct 21, 2024 Iceland is heading for snap elections in November after the right-left coalition of Bjarni Benediktsson collapsed in October over a range of disagreements. Political scientists were not surprised and some predict a watershed moment in Icelandic politics.
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Nordic governments' sigh of relief as collective bargaining rights still intact
Oct 19, 2024 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.
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Red workers with white sails
Sep 19, 2024 Sports and politics are closely related in Finland. For more than a century, the country has had double sports clubs – for people on the political left and the political right. Now, the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation is considering its future as fewer and fewer identify as workers and class divisions decrease.
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