News — Nordic Labour Journal

Iceland: fewer take paternity leave

(Dec 08, 2014) When Iceland introduced paid paternity leave in 2000 it was a huge success. New fathers welcomed the opportunity to stay at home with their children. But the trend has not continued, and fathers’ income opportunities have worsened. Families can no longer afford the cut in earnings.

Arch rivals form coalition government in Greenland

(Dec 05, 2014) The Siumut party secured a narrow victory in Greenland’s general elections and has formed a government with the two centre-right parties Atassut and the Democrats. The latter was a particular surprise choice.

The Laval judgement: Swedish government wants more power to unions

(Dec 04, 2014) The Swedish government says the EU adjustment went too far when Swedish legislation was changed as a result of the EU Court of Justice’s judgement in the Laval case.

Jobs top of the agenda at meeting of Nordic prime minsters

(Nov 10, 2014) Removing border obstacles and increasing investments to create jobs are some of the visions shared by the Nordic prime ministers. During the Stockholm session of the Nordic Council, they also expressed a wish to expand the Nordic region as a brand.

Make room for creativity in the workplace

(Nov 10, 2014) Forget sending employees to courses in creativity and focus on creative breaks during the working day instead. That is one of many pieces of advice from Denmark’s new professor of creative leadership, businessman and billionaire Christian Stadil.

Social Europe under pressure

(Oct 24, 2014) There’s a conflict between the EU’s social ambitions and national autonomy, not least when it comes to the labour market, Sweden’s newly elected Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson told a seminar in Stockholm on 22 October.

Finnish cases in EU Court of Justice could have Nordic consequences

(Oct 14, 2014) Is the Finnish system of universally applicable collective agreements incompatible with the free movement of services? That is what an advocate-general at the Court of Justice of the European Union suggests in a fresh opinion. The case is only one out of three current ones which could have a major impact on the Nordic countries’ labour markets.

Stefan Löfven (S): Sweden will be a global role model

(Oct 03, 2014) Prime Minister Löfven called his new government feminist as he presented it in parliament on Friday. It has 23 government ministers — 12 women and 11 men plus the Prime Minister — and is a coalition comprising the Social Democrats and the Green Party. Work was top of Löfven’s speech.

Researchers: Employment has become more important than job content

(Sep 10, 2014) Working life has been on the agenda during the Swedish general election campaign, and especially unemployment. More jobs are needed. Yet visions for the content of those jobs have not figured politically — an inconsistency highlighted by a group of researchers at a recent meeting in Stockholm.

OECD: Wage cuts will not create jobs

(Sep 03, 2014) Industrialised countries have reached the limit for how much wages can be cut. Since the start of the economic crisis, wages have fallen in real terms for half of all employees in OECD countries. Further cuts could be counter-productive and damage growth.

The Nordic model: From Reykjavik to Paris

(Jun 17, 2014) “The Nordic countries need to stay on course. They will be an example to other countries, a reference point, particularly when it comes to the harmony between growth and really good social standards,” says Christian Kastrop, newly appointed Director for the Policy Studies Branch at the OECD’s economy department.

Conflict over part time labour stops Swedish trains

(Jun 17, 2014) A train strike in southern Sweden has put renewed focus on how competition for public contracts affects the rights of the contractors’ employees, and to which extent the procuring authority can interfere in their working and employment conditions.

Iceland initiates a Nordic welfare watch

(Jun 17, 2014) As part as its presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Iceland has initiated a research project to look into the possibilities and interest for creating a Nordic welfare watch. Researchers in the Nordic countries will work together until 2016 to map how economic crisis influence welfare and how it can be made sustainable also during bad times.

What about the next 60? New report predicts continued success for the Nordic model

(May 07, 2014) “We need to make adjustments going forward, but if we do we have every chance of succeeding,” says the Managing Director of the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, Vesa Vihriälä. He is just finishing a report on the challenges facing the Nordic welfare model in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Agreement on main contractor liability stopped strike

(Apr 04, 2014) A bit of history was written in the evening of 31 March when a new collective agreement was reached on main contractor liability within the Swedish construction industry. It prevented strike action with hours to spare and will see the employers’ organisation the Swedish Construction Federation (BI) establishing a fund to guarantee wages for subcontractors’ workers.