News — Nordic Labour Journal

The battery factory turning Sweden's migration flow 180°

(Mar 23, 2023) Five years. That is how long Sweden has left to succeed with its green transition. The big challenge will be to get people to move to where the jobs are and for society to change in step with the changes in industry.

Tur-retur tries to halt the brain drain from Finland to Sweden

(Feb 27, 2023) It is a full table at the pub near Sweden’s parliament building. Around ten immigrants have gathered for the monthly meeting of the Swedish association of Ostrobothnians in Stockholm. It is an active association. In addition to the monthly pub meeting, there is a choir and other activities.

25 per cent of Norwegian workers say they have lost influence

(Feb 27, 2023) One in four workers in Norway feel they have lost influence in the workplace, according to the 2022 Medbestemmelsesbarometeret (Joint decision-making barometer). This is felt most acutely among public sector workers.

Creating synergies for life science cooperation in the Öresund Region

(Feb 27, 2023) Is a bridge enough to expand the common labour market in the Öresund region, or is more needed? The answer from Medicon Valley Alliances’ CEO is: We must also become better at identifying and using the factors that benefit both Denmark and Sweden and explore the potential of this.

How Iceland's industry benefits from being outside of the common energy market

(Jan 19, 2023) Surging energy prices have been one of the many consequences of the war in Ukraine. This has mainly been felt in Europe since sanctions against Russia have led to considerable cuts in gas imports from there which in turn has pushed prices up.

Healthcare staff in Sweden look forward to stricter daily rest rules

(Jan 19, 2023) A minimum of 11 hours of consecutive rest between shifts. That is the result of negotiations between Swedish trade unions and employers. Rules had to be changed after the European Commission questioned certain parts of the Swedish collective agreement on working hours.

Four new Nordic labour ministers – and their challenges

(Jan 19, 2023) In 2022, both Norway, Sweden and Denmark got new labour ministers. Here is your chance to get to know them better.

Denmark takes minimum wage directive to the EU Court

(Jan 19, 2023) Denmark and Sweden will go separate ways after the EU directive on adequate minimum wages has been adopted.

How to include more people in the Nordic labour markets?

(Nov 28, 2022) If every Nordic country learned from each other’s successes, 700 000 more people could be in work, according to Danish researchers Sarah Kildahl Nielsen and Vibeke Jakobsen.

Karen Ellemann new NCM Secretary General

(Nov 20, 2022) Karen Ellemann is the next Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers. She is seen as a heavy-weight candidate taking up a central post for the Nordic cooperation.

Sudden growth creates problems for Icelandic tourism

(Oct 28, 2022) Icelandic tourism has bounced back faster than expected. The head of the travel industry likens it to champagne flowing when the cork has popped. Thanks to government support most of the tourist companies survived.

Nordic trade unions “too distant from rest of EU”

(Oct 28, 2022) Who gains the most out of being a fly on the wall at the Council of Nordic Trade Unions congress in Oslo – the journalist or the social anthropologist? I suspect the latter, but since I am a journalist I will present the big news first: Iceland will host a tripartite meeting on green and just reform on 1 December 2023.

Will the climate issue rejuvenate Nordic trade unions?

(Oct 28, 2022) What signals were the most important to come out of the NFS congress in Oslo? We asked Ragnhild Lied, President of the Union confederation, to sum up her impressions. “What is clear now is that we are experiencing so many crises at once,” she says.

Denmark and Sweden’s EU dilemma over minimum wages

(Oct 28, 2022) Should the government go to the EU Court of Justice to have the directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union nullified? That question is now being debated in Denmark and Sweden after the directive was adopted with an overwhelming majority. But it is far from given that any of the two countries’ governments will take action.

"Yellow" trade union struggles to gain foothold in Norway

(Oct 28, 2022) Krifa claims to be a good alternative to traditional trade unions in Norway, especially as union membership is up among employers but down among employees. Traditional unions feel Krifa is too close to employers and disagree with their anti-strike policy.