Editorial
Cooperating to stop a race to the bottom
Apr 19, 2018 Not everything is perfect, but the Nordics are doing some good things, getting down to business, highlighting problems, considering the measures, wanting to learn from others without erasing political divides. This is also the case when discussing labour market inclusion, #metoo and work-related crime. Broad cooperation aims to make sure things point in the right direction.
Insight
Nordic region strengthens cooperation against work-related crime – wants EU onboard
Apr 19, 2018 It is called the grey economy, social dumping, work-related crime – yet despite the many names the problems are common and concern all of the Nordic region and Europe. This is about criminal networks, pure exploitation of labour, businesses operating on the edge of the law and unequal competition. All this led to a joint resolution at the ministers’ meeting in Stockholm on 13 April.
tema
Newly arrived immigrant women – more than a labour market project?
Apr 19, 2018 682,948 non-western immigrants arrived in the Nordic region between 2010 and 2015. The aim is to integrate as many of them as possible into the labour market. The challenge is greatest for female refugees, who often face discrimination in their native countries and again risk being discriminated against in their new home country.
tema
OECD: More flexibility needed to get female refugees into work
Apr 19, 2018 There is a need for more flexible measures to integrate newly arrived refugee women in the Nordic region, according to the OECD. Research shows that after years of fleeing, birth rates increase dramatically. When women feel safe, they have children – but that also makes it difficult for them to benefit from labour market introduction programmes.
In focus
Project Mirjam tackles prejudices about and in the Swedish labour market
Apr 19, 2018 Project Mirjam targets women with low levels of education who have been granted asylum or residency in Sweden. It is considerably harder for them to find work compared to men in a similar situation, but guidance focused on work and gender equality produces results.
Portrait
Anna Söderbäck: #metoo shows a need for a new type of leadership
Apr 19, 2018 #metoo has spread like wildfire across the Nordic region. In Sweden, 65 different trades gathered their stories under different banners. First were the artists with hashtags like #tystnadtagning (silence, filming) and #ViSjungerUt (we’re singing out). Anna Söderbäck also shared her experiences. Now she is calling for a new type of leadership.
News
Finnish critics: Unemployed punished for inactivity – regardless of their situation
Apr 19, 2018 Finland’s activation model for unemployed people was meant to do just that – activate the unemployed. Yet results remain elusive. All unemployed people are critical to the model, say those the NLJ has spoken to.
In focus
Diversity in the labour market – focus on newly arrived women
Apr 18, 2018 Nordic countries are world leaders when it comes to female employment rates. Yet unemployment remains high among newly arrived women. We take a closer look at who the women are, the cause of the problems and what can be done to get more women into work.
News
Nordic politicians on their guard as the EU’s new labour authority takes shape
Apr 17, 2018 The European Commission is moving at pace to make the European Pillar of Social Rights a reality. In March it presented what it called a ‘Social Fairness Package’, where it proposed that the EU should establish a European labour authority to make sure EU rules on issues including the posting of workers and the coordination of social security schemes are being followed.
News
Icelandic companies want to introduce equal pay standard ahead of time
Apr 09, 2018 Icelandic companies are hard at work preparing to meet demands introduced in equal pay legislation presented at the start of the year. Several of them want to adapt the equal pay standard before the deadline. But the amount of work is greater than expected, and the first ones out must start from scratch.
Comments
The Nordic region – borderless yet clearly defined
Mar 23, 2018 Municipalities on Greenland as large as the whole of France. Five countries whose economies, if combined, would be the world’s twelfth largest. Cities where 62 percent of the labour force work in knowledge intensive businesses. The Nordic region is all of this. The report ‘State of the Nordic Region’, published every second year, is a fascinating reminder of just how different things can be in a region which from the outside appears homogenous.
News
Norwegian experts: Whistleblowers need more protection
Mar 23, 2018 The government-appointed committee assessing the need for better laws and regulations surrounding whistleblowing wants to strengthen the protection of whistleblowers with an ombudsman who can provide advice and assistance in whistleblowing cases, and a separate dispute commission to make it easier for people to speak out. Both could be enshrined in a whistleblower law.
Portrait
OsloMet’s Rector Curt Rice wants to shake up academia
Mar 12, 2018 Oslo has a new university, the third largest in Norway. OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, will educate the future labour force across a range of professions. If Rector gets his way, gender equality will permeate everything. Digitalisation will be a top priority and programmes will be developed at the intersection of research, teaching and practice.
Editorial
Nordic gender equality 2018 – from #metoo to new structures
Mar 07, 2018 #metoo has thrown the spotlight on sexual harassment and indecent behaviour towards women, and marks a new chapter when it comes to discrimination. But loud voices, engagement and structural measures are all needed to achieve gender equality. The Nordic Labour Journal’s gender equality barometer shows that the Nordic countries are developing in somewhat different directions, yet action is being taken to target inequalities.
tema
Women tighten grip on power in Norway - bottom place for Finland
Mar 07, 2018 When Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg met the world’s most powerful man, alongside her was also Norway’s first ever female Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ine Eriksen Søreide. Norway still leads NLJ’s gender equality barometer by a good margin, while Finland has fewer women in positions of power than any Nordic country has had for 19 years.
tema
How should trade unions handle #metoo?
Mar 07, 2018 The #metoo movement’s many appalling stories show that parallel to rules and regulations there has been culture of silence which has made sexual assaults and harassment possible. This is a challenge for trade unions on all levels, concluded Nordic trade union representatives at a meeting in Stockholm in February.
tema
"Finnish home care support increases inequality"
Mar 07, 2018 Fewer Finnish children go to nursery than elsewhere in the Nordic region. One reason is the home care support, paid to parents who chose to stay at home beyond the normal parental leave period. The organisation Mothers in Business wants to scrap the benefit altogether, calling it a trap for women.
tema
Enormous interest for Icelandic equal pay standard
Mar 07, 2018 Iceland is the first country in the world to make it legally binding for all companies with more than 25 employees to have an equal pay standard. The law says there should be equal pay for equal work for women and men in the same workplace. This has gained international attention.
News
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