tema
|
May 2017
Disruption shakes the Nordic agreement model
May 19, 2017 The social partners in the Nordic region have to adapt the Nordic labour market model to fit the sharing economy, driverless forklifts and other new labour market trends. If they don’t, others will, a Danish expert warns. The Danish government and the social partners have approached the task by establishing a new body: “The Disruption Council”.
Portrait
Britt Lundberg: President of the entire Nordic region
May 04, 2017 Border obstacles must go. That is crucial for both growth and employment. And important for the 2017 Finnish Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers, says the President of the Nordic Council, Britt Lundberg from Åland and Finland.
News
Nordics and Baltics agree on digital development
May 02, 2017 Big numbers were presented during the Digital North conference in Oslo on 25 April, where digitalisation ministers from the Nordic and Baltic countries signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement. Digitalisation can create 500,000 new jobs in Europe, and the new 5G networks which are already being rolled out in the Nordic region are 100,000 faster that the first ever mobile network was 20 years ago.
Editorial
New roads leading to healthy workplaces
Apr 07, 2017 The Nordic countries want to be best internationally, and consider healthy workplaces to be a great competitive advantage in a global market place. But, as Nordic researchers warn: “a good working environment is not the icing on the cake, but the pointers you apply in the course of the process”. In this month’s Theme, the Nordic Labour Journal looks at the pointers the different countries have been applying.
In focus
Nordic working environment authorities with different views on social dumping
Apr 06, 2017 Nordic countries must make comprehensive changes to their working environment policies in the face of new ways of working and more posted workers from the EU. Everyone seems to agree that working environment issues are getting increasingly important, yet there are major differences in how the different countries handle the challenges – not least when it comes to social dumping.
tema
Danish working environment in crisis – and measures are about to change
Apr 06, 2017 The Danish government has become so worried about the deterioration of the quality of working environments that it is now making changes to working environment measures. Trade unions are calling for a stop to cuts to the Working Environment Authority.
tema
Iceland: Tourism boom leads to flourishing black market
Apr 06, 2017 The Icelandic dream turned into a nightmare, says a Polish woman. Eastern European bus drivers work for 500 euro a month. Hotels suspected of employing asylum seekers. People trafficking suspected as two people worked around the clock in a basement. These are headlines from Iceland.
tema
Finland wants to have Europe's best working life by 2020
Apr 06, 2017 Finland’s strengths have not been used to create a competitive advantage. Now Finnish working life is to become the best in Europe. Businesses compete to innovate, create trust, well-being and competencies. The economic crisis was a temporary setback, but also a fresh start for the Working Life 2020 programme ('Arbetsliv2020’).
tema
New centre of knowledge for Swedish working environments
Apr 06, 2017 A new, national centre for knowledge about and the assessment of working environments should be established either at Stockholm University or as a new government body, according to a proposal presented to the Swedish government.
Portrait
Norway's Minister of Labour Anniken Hauglie is passionate about social entrepreneurship
Apr 06, 2017 Anniken Hauglie is changing working hour regulations and strengthening legislation protecting whistleblowers. Together with the social partners she wants to draw clearer lines for what staffing agencies can and cannot do, strengthen work against work related crime and she invites Nordic colleagues to discuss what the sharing economy and new trends will do to the future of work.
News
Micro-management a threat to Nordic labour market models
Apr 06, 2017 There is a need for an institutionalised exchange of ideas between the Nordic countries on labour market issues, believes Oxford Research, which has compared labour market politics in the Nordic countries. They also encourage politicians to avoid micro-management and to trust those who work with these issues.
News
Robotisation and Mercedes bring a thousand new jobs to Finland
Apr 06, 2017 Suddenly Finland is about to become known as a car making nation. There is already talk about “the west coast miracle”. Valmet Automotive is recruiting one thousand new car workers in addition to the ones they already employ. More and more Mercedes models are being ordered from their Uusikaupunki car plant, which is growing at record speed.
News
International campaign needed to fight ruthless staffing agencies
Apr 04, 2017 Two new international agreements trying to improve conditions for workers in the construction and textile industries, as well as oil workers' more traditional but still difficult trade union fight. Those were the issues up for debate during a Fafo seminar in Oslo on globalisation, precarious work and trust.
Editorial
The Nordic region not good enough on gender equality and mental health
Mar 06, 2017 There has been no overall change in the distribution of powerful positions in the Nordic region, according to the NLJ’s gender equality barometer for 2017. Yet there is an increase in the number of women in top positions within trade unions, employers’ organisations and labour government ministries.
tema
Nordic gender equality stagnating, yet there is an increase in female working life leaders
Mar 06, 2017 There was no overall change in the distribution for Nordic women in the past year. But the Nordic Labour Journal’s gender equality barometer shows that there has been a further polarisation between the countries. On 8 March each year we look at 24 different powerful jobs to see whether they are filled by a man or a woman. 200 points are distributed, and 100 points to women means full equality. This year they got 64.
tema
Out with the trade union sauna – in with gender equality!
Mar 06, 2017 Gender equality in Finnish trade unions might have been lagging behind other Nordic countries. But things are getting better. “The time for male sauna and drinking parties is over. Finnish trade unions are opening up for women, also at the top level. There are still structures which lead to male dominance in Finnish politics and working life,” say gender equality experts Marianne Laxén and Päivi Niemi-Laine, President for the JHL trade union. But it should not be necessary to act like a man in order to get a top position.
tema
Humor is a tool for gender equality in Värmland
Mar 06, 2017 Region Värmland and the Värmland county administrative board use humour in a new campaign to get young people to learn more about gender equality. The aim is to get the young to make more equal choices than today, which is considered necessary in order to create growth and a good life.
News
NIVA Education introduces online courses
Mar 06, 2017 NIVA Education has started offering online courses in various topics to do with working environments and safety. “The best thing about these courses is that I can go back and listen to a lecture again and again. You always notice something new,” says Ásta Snorradóttir, is a lecturer in occupational rehabilitation at the at the University of Iceland.
News
Lex Laval revised in Sweden – to what effect?
Mar 01, 2017 Swedish trade unions will again be able to take industrial action in order to get foreign companies to sign collective agreements for their posted workers. That is what the Swedish government proposes, arguing the limitations introduced through the so-called lex Laval go too far. In practice the difference might not be quite as dramatic as it might seem.
News