Editorial
Do we have the right tools to fight for a better work environment?
May 27, 2024
Events that are near in time always get the most attention. But is that always smart? A study of work-related deaths from Finland’s top work environment experts shows that accidents in the workplace only counted for one per cent of deaths. Yet 57 per cent of state controls are performed to prevent accidents.
tema
Nordics counting the costs of work-related illness
May 27, 2024
3,000 Swedes die every year from work-related injuries. Unlike fatalities and accidents in the workplace, the effects of poor working environments are harder to see and measure. For the individual, the lost years amount to an immeasurable loss, but society also stands to lose an estimated 4 per cent of GDP per country a year.
tema
More exposed to cancer – Norwegian firefighters pushing for legal change
May 27, 2024
They expose themselves to great risks to save others and property. But the price they pay can be high. Firefighters are more likely to develop cancer than people in most other occupations. There are now growing calls for making it easier for firefighters to have cancer recognised as an occupational disease.
tema
No horsing around with the work environment for the Swedish equine sector
May 27, 2024
The Swedish horse industry faces challenges both in terms of high accident risks and heavy labour. To improve the work environment, they offer training and also use research to find new methods and tools to create better conditions. Now, a new equestrian centre where new technology will be tested is nearing completion.
News
Finnish future report: Youths worry about fitting into the labour market
May 27, 2024
Finnish school students have become more anxious about their ability to succeed in the future job market. A new future report shows only 53 per cent of young people are enthusiastic about entering the labour market. In 2018 82 per cent said the same.
News
Danish farmers “exploiting foreign interns”
May 27, 2024
Danish farmers are using cheap labour from Vietnam, Uganda, Tanzania and India by using an agricultural intern programme. Trade unions have been critical to their working conditions and have secured continued oversight of the programme.
News
How do you stop the exploitation of foreign labour?
May 27, 2024
There have always been groups of foreign workers in the Nordic labour markets who are hard to define. Are they coming to work, study or as a cultural exchange? They might be au pairs, interns or berry pickers.
Editorial
Where does the border between the EU and the Nordic region run?
Apr 29, 2024
Right now is a fascinating time in Nordic and European politics. Rarely have so many things that affect the Nordics and their relationship with Europe been happening simultaneously. Some forces link the Nordic countries closer to each other and the EU, while at the same time, the boundaries for cooperation have become clearer.
tema
Swedish MEPs: Climate crucial in EU elections
Apr 29, 2024
In the EU it is often said that the green transition will bring future jobs, but now the EU’s main climate actions are threatened. As June’s European Parliamentary elections approach, far-right parties want to either change or tear up existing decisions in the EU Green Deal and Fit for 55. The conservative EPP group is also looking at putting the brakes on the climate transition.
tema
Claes-Mikael Ståhl: Money and solidarity needed for the green transition
Apr 29, 2024
Right-wing populists are gaining ground in Europe and if they get more power in the Parliament, ambitions for the green transition and for a social and just Europe risk being pushed back. "We worry about even more push-backs in the future," says Claes-Mikael Ståhl, the European Trade Union Congress Deputy General Secretary.
tema
EU labour law after the parliamentary elections
Apr 29, 2024
What new labour legislation can we expect from the EU in the next five years? This depends as much on who becomes Commission President as on what the Parliament has on its wish list.
tema
Mobilising for a strong social Europe
Apr 29, 2024
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.
tema
EU’s labour market wish list “could crash with the Nordic model”
Apr 29, 2024
The EU Parliament has drawn up a huge wish list for the labour market. Top social democrat candidate Johan Danielsson believes it contains reasonable demands. "The Nordic region has a lot to gain from improved working and living conditions in the rest of Europe, says Danielsson.
tema
EEA report reignites Norway’s EU debate
Apr 29, 2024
It is nearly 30 years since Norwegians voted no to EU membership and also 30 years since Norway signed the EEA agreement. A new report on Norway in the EEA has reignited the debate about Norwegian EU membership.
tema
EU and Nordics cooperate on energy poverty
Apr 29, 2024
New EU rules oblige the Nordic countries to ensure that energy crises do not lead to increased poverty. A new report recommends Nordic cooperation on the issue and a Danish MEP calls energy poverty “unsustainable”.
News
Estonia welcomes Sweden and Finland into Nato
Apr 29, 2024
One year after Finland joined Nato, Sweden has also become part of the Nato family. This brings them together with Norway, Iceland and Denmark, members since the start in 1949.
News
When the Nordic open labour market ended overnight
Apr 29, 2024
This summer, the common Nordic labour market will be 70 years old. But have we really been able to work freely in a neighbouring Nordic country for that whole period of time? The border between Norway and Sweden was closed for 23 months during the Corona pandemic, a new book published by the Svinesund Committee points out.
News
Iceland’s Katrín Jakobsdóttir runs for president, triggering major changes
Apr 29, 2024
Prime Minster Katrín Jakobsdóttir‘s decision to step down in order to run for president of Iceland could create trouble for the government coalition she has been instrumental in keeping together.
News
Faroese independence is suddenly back on the table
Apr 29, 2024
The Faroe Islands would like to become a full member of the Nordic Council. But since the Swedish Minister for Nordic Cooperation has dismissed that possibility, more Faroese politicians argue that the islands should review their role as part of the Danish realm and in the Nordic Council.
News
Leaders' lack of knowledge about the Norwegian model threatens competitiveness
Apr 11, 2024
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.
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