In October 2005, a new coalition government of the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party took office in Norway. One of the aims of the new government, which has a majority in parliament, is to reverse previously approved changes to the legal framework on temporary employment and overtime. It also plans new initiatives in areas such as gender equality, working time and 'social dumping'.
On 24 October 2005, a new government took office. A coalition of the Norwegian Labour Party (Det norske Arbeiderpartiet, DnA), the Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, SV) and the Centre Party (Senterpartiet, SP) replaced the previous centre-right government following the general election in September. SV is to the left of DnA on the political continuum, while SP is located at the centre of Norwegian politics. The three parties have never previously cooperated in government. The new government is led by the leader of DnA, Jens Stoltenberg, and includes 11 men and 10 women. The election provided the three parties with a majority of elected representatives in parliament (the Stortinget), and there is thus a majority government in Norway for the first time in 20 years. The political foundation for the new government is its joint political platform negotiated immediately after the election. This sets out the aim of strengthening public services with regard to education, health and social care, and also pledges to halt a number of controversial legal amendments regarding employment protection and overtime. The new government promises to abide by existing restrictions set on the use of revenues from the petroleum (investment) fund, which has formed the basis of economic policy in Norway over the last few years.
Controversial legislative changes not implemented
In spring 2005, parliament approved a number of amendments to work environment legislation and to the Act relating to Civil Servants (Tjenestemannsloven) (NO0506102F). These changes envisaged a revision of the Act relating to the Working Environment and Workers' Protection (AML), and several were controversial, especially one making it easier for employers to use temporary employees. Moreover, in 2003 statutory overtime rules were changed, providing a significant liberalisation of the use of overtime. In the process leading up to the revised work environment legislation, trade union organisations called for the overtime rules to be returned to the more restrictive situation that existed prior to 2003, but failed to obtain acceptance for their demand (NO0209102N and NO0304103F).
In the coalition parties' joint platform, the incoming government has made explicit its intention to amend the approved revisions to the AML, as follows:
- the rules on temporary employment will revert to those in the original AML;
- the rules on overtime will revert to the situation prior to the 2003 amendments; and
- changes to the rules on dismissals and termination of employment contracts will be reversed. An employee will still have a right to maintain his or her employment relationship while a case regarding dismissal is being determined by a court of law, also in those cases where the employee has lost in a lower court.
The government also intends to repeal the changes made to the Act relating to Civil Servants. State sector employees have until now been entitled to a special unemployment benefit from the state. The abolition of this scheme was approved in the spring of 2005. The new government now wants to retain it.
Other labour policy priorities
The new government has signalled several other policy measures aimed at working life and the labour market. An equal pay commission will be set up to look at pay differences between women and men. Several trade union organisations and public bodies in the equal opportunities field have on previous occasions called for such a commission. The new government also aim to 'balance traditional shiftwork and comparable types of rotation work'. The issue of balancing shiftwork (which is mainly used in the male-dominated manufacturing industries) and 'rotation work' (which is important in the female-dominated health and social sector) has been on the agenda of those trade unions with a high proportion of women members for a long time. The government has also pledged its support for trial projects on working time reductions (in the form of a six-hour working day). In this area, activities will be carried out in close cooperation with the social partners. The new government does not, however, call for a general reduction in working time. The new minister for gender equality, Karita Bekkemellem, has also stated that she will maintain - and possibly extend - the provisions that provide for a 40% female quota on company boards (NO0306106F and NO0412104F). The government also aims to extend paid paternity leave from five to 10 weeks over the next four years. This will be achieved through a gradual extension of the joint parental leave period, with the extended period fully reserved for the father. The outgoing government introduced an additional week of paternity leave in its budget proposal for 2006.
The new government will also introduce measures to prevent 'social dumping', ie foreign employees receiving pay significantly below that of Norwegian employees. Among other measures, the government will work to establish a requirement for observing Norwegian wage and working conditions in connection with public tenders, and introduce a scheme for the certification and monitoring of labour hiring companies/temporary work agencies. Moreover, several proposals have already been presented with a view to improving the effects of the legislation relating to the extension of collective agreements (NO0509103F).
An issue subject to significant debate in the autumn of 2005 was the decision made by a large Norwegian-based firm, Norske Skog ASA, to close down one of its paper mills, Union in Skien, Norway (NO0509101N). Despite strong criticism from politicians and trade unions, the decision was implemented in October 2005. The new minister for trade and industry has stated his intention to look into measures to make it harder to close down profitable operations.
Another area in which the new government has distanced itself from the previous government is that of privatisation and competitive tendering by public enterprises. The new government is particularly reluctant about privatisation in health, social care and education, and will direct efforts at preventing such developments. It nevertheless emphasises that efforts to reform the public sector will continue.
Commentary
The new administration is Norway's first majority government in 20 years. It is taking office in a period when unemployment is on the way down, and where a high oil price provides the country with substantial revenues. It is thus reasonable to argue that the new government will have significant economic and political room for manoeuvre in the months to come. The new government's first task will be to incorporate its policies for change into the 2006 state budget, which was put forward by the previous government in October 2005. The new government has pledged that it intends to comply with the principal guidelines established for the use of petroleum revenues ('handlingsreglen'), which put significant restrictions on the national authorities' use of the nation's oil and gas revenues. The state’s share of these revenues (set at 4%) is transferred to the government petroleum fund, and parliament has decided that only revenues from this fund may be used for public spending.
Trade unions are on whole satisfied with the change in government and the new government’s political platform. The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) - which put substantial efforts into the election campaign with the view to achieving a change in government - stated in a press release that it is 'satisfied with the general outlook of the political platform and looks forward to a close collaborative relationship with the new government'. Other union organisations have also expressed their satisfaction with the new government.
The employer side is beyond doubt disappointed with the fact that the new government will reverse the proposed changes to work environment legislation, bringing temporary employment and overtime rules back to their previous state. The employers' organisations are strongly in favour of deregulation and supported the changes made by parliament in 2003 and 2005. The Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon, NHO) has stated that the new government should have let the new rules - which were introduced in the summer of 2005 and which had not yet taken effect - work for some time, after which an evaluation should be carried out. It has been clear for some time however that the parties forming the new government would not allow the new rules to come into effect, and as such the employers seem to have accepted defeat for the time being on this issue. NHO nevertheless states that it looks forward to cooperating with the new government, in important areas of working life and industry policy development. (Kristine Nergaard, FAFO Institute for Applied Social Science)