Joint decision making and freedom of expression in the Nordics
Newsletter from the Nordic Labour Journal 8/2016
Everything is connected – also the Nordic region
Nordic cooperation for 2017 has been given title: A Europe in transition needs a strong Nordic Region. So what is needed to build and promote the region? More sharing of knowledge? Greater focus on the Nordic welfare model? Greater focus on which values that the Nordics choose to follow? Is a more authoritarian labour market a choice the Nordics will make?
Towards a more authoritarian labour market – without freedom of expression?
“This is not only about their working life. It is about their lives,” says Dag Yngve Dahle, who has written a book on the freedom of expression in working life together with Maria Amelie, called ‘Moderne munnkurv’, or Modern muzzle. They look at what happens to people who have been accused of a breach of loyalty to their employer.
New Swedish legislation protects whistleblowers
A new law will be introduced in Sweden this January to improve the protection of whistleblowers, strengthening the employees’ situation. However, they will still be left with much responsibility when it comes to deciding which wrongdoings are serious enough to afford them protection.
Collective decision making important, but...
“All this research on collective decision making is important, but it has its limitations. I think far too much has been exaggerated. There is an extremely good relationship between the workers’ representatives and the company leadership,” exclaims Knut E. Sunde, director of industrial policy at the Federation of Norwegian Industries.
NIB’s Henrik Normann – the welfare sector needs a bank director too
Henrik Normann heads one of the most successful Nordic institutions, the Nordic Investment Bank. It is celebrating 40 years in business, and was founded with capital from all of the five Nordic countries.
Are the Nordic welfare states prepared for crises?
Do the Nordics spend too little money on Nordic welfare? Yes, believes Iceland’s Minister for Nordic Cooperation Eygló Harðardóttir. She sees great opportunities for more welfare cooperation, and supports a proposed Nordic welfare forum and a system for common welfare indicators, to be better prepared for future crises.
Why did Iceland do so well?
From the crisis hit in 2008 until 2011 Iceland experienced the greatest income redistribution in Europe. It is common to think that cuts are needed to deal with economic crises. Iceland is an example of the opposite. Welfare works better than cuts, claim the researchers behind the report Welfare consequences of financial crises.
Profit limit on welfare services triggers strong emotions in Sweden
When the so-called welfare inquiry was presented on 8 November, proposing a limit to profits from welfare services, there was immediate disagreement. The centre-right parties want to remove a seven percent limit, while the Left Party is pushing the government to take even tougher action against profit.
The posting of workers directive: EU Commission sticks to its guns
Should posted workers have the right to the same wages as workers in the country to which they are posted? Yes, says the European Commission, sticking to its proposal for changes to the posting of workers directive, despite fierce resistance from Eastern European member states.
How do you integrate last year’s refugees into the labour market?
Refugees represent a different type of group compared to labour immigrants. The integrating of last year’s record number of refugees to the Nordic region will therefore probably take longer than for labour immigrants. There is also a risk that labour market integration runs into problems after five to ten years, warned researches at a Nordic seminar held in Oslo.
New barometer measures the level of collective decision making in Norway
People’s perceived level of influence over their own work situation has plummeted in Norway. In seven years the number of people saying they have a lot of influence has fallen from 89 percent to 77 percent. Imported leadership models get the blame.
Nordic Council session 2016
Here we have collected the articles we wrote aput the Nordic Council session in Copenhagen.
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