News

  • Eliza Reid – Iceland’s outstanding First Lady

    On March the 8th, the book Secrets of the Sprakkar was published in the US after having first been released in Iceland in 2020. It deals with gender equality in Iceland, considered to be among the best in the world. Sprakkar is an ancient Icelandic word for “outstanding women”. A few of these outstanding women…

    6 minutes
    Eliza Reid – Iceland’s outstanding First Lady
  • Renewed drive to fight work-related crime in the Nordics

    All of the Nordics have intensified the fight against work-related crime. Norway’s new government has launched what it calls a spring clean of the Nordic labour market. Sweden’s deputy Minister for Employment Johan Danielsson has been tasked with coordinating the policy, and recently visited Oslo where he met his Norwegian colleague Marte Mjøs Persen.

    6 minutes
    Renewed drive to fight work-related crime in the Nordics
  • Another yellow card from Sweden – against platform work proposal

    The European Commission has yet again presented a proposal that puts the Swedish labour market model at risk. That is the view of the Swedish parliament, which has decided to hand out a so-called yellow card against the proposed directive for better working conditions in platform work, presented in December. The strains from Denmark and…

    3 minutes
  • Nordics showed resilience during the pandemic

    The Nordic countries managed well economically during the pandemic in light of the massive changes that were undertaken. In four of the five countries, life expectancy rose. Denmark spent the most money while Norway did best overall while also experiencing a baby boom.

    3 minutes
    Nordics showed resilience during the pandemic
  • Will the ILO elect its first female Director-General?

    On 25 March, the International Labour Organisation, ILO, will elect a new Director-General. There are five candidates, two of whom are women – Kang Kyung-wha from South Korea and Muriel Pénicaud from France. Both are former government ministers.

    4 minutes
    Will the ILO elect its first female Director-General?
  • Hadia Tajik: Norway’s Minister of Labour goes after tax scandal

    Hadia Tajik, deputy leader of Norway’s governing Labour Party, stepped down as the country’s Minister of Labour on Wednesday after revelations she failed to pay tax for a commuter flat 15 years ago while working as a political advisor at the Ministry for Labour and Social Inclusion.

    4 minutes
    Hadia Tajik: Norway’s Minister of Labour goes after tax scandal
  • Swedish Employment Service wins award for anti-violence work

    Over the past four years, the Swedish Public Employment Service has worked to increase awareness around violence in close relationships, which is often a hidden cause of long-term unemployment. They have trained 6,000 staff as well as suppliers and clients. Now they have been awarded the 2022 Swedish Gender Equality Award.

    7 minutes
    Swedish Employment Service wins award for anti-violence work
  • Iceland’s capital area waste collection no longer rubbish

    Despite all the progress that has taken place in waste management, Iceland’s six capital municipalities still do not recycle household biological waste. The municipalities do not even share the same waste management system. But now things are finally changing.

    6 minutes
    Iceland’s capital area waste collection no longer rubbish
  • The Faroe Islands: A country without prisons

    If you are sentenced to more than 18 months in prison in the Faroe Islands, you will suffer the additional penalty of being sent to Denmark to serve your sentence. Because there are no prisons in the Faroe Islands.

    6 minutes
    The Faroe Islands: A country without prisons
  • Swedish LO: The ETUC no longer represents us

    The Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) has stopped paying its membership fee to the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and will no longer participate in the organisation’s meetings – all in protest against the ETUC’s handling of the directive on adequate minimum wages.

    2 minutes
    Swedish LO: The ETUC no longer represents us