Documents Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Nordic Countries 5 results

"The coronavirus pandemic has hit countries differently, and we are yet to understand why the new coronavirus has spread more rapidly in some regions, and why more successfully contained in others. One common denominator across Europe, however, is that the virus has hit older people hard, and particularly those in elder care.1 Several countries – such as Sweden, the UK, and Spain – have seen devastating death tolls in nursing homes, particularly during the first wave of the pandemic. In all countries, care workers have been at the frontline of the pandemic..."

"The Nordic and German trade unions represented by the Council of Nordic Trade Unions (NFS) and the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) – support their respective countries' commitments to the Paris Agreement and goals to reach carbon neutrality. This presupposes a structural change of the social, economic, and ecological dimensions of society never seen before. Just Transition is a prerequisite for success. It will ensure that our countries reach the goals of the Paris Agreement and that no one is left behind.
The conclusions in this report are the result of the collaboration between the aforementioned trade union organisations. They contribute to the national, regional and international discussion on Just Transition by helping to define Just Transition and shed light on structural change triggered by climate policies and the effects and possibilities it will have on labour markets. The report will furthermore help to pave the way to a carbon-free society by formulating policy recommendations jointly adopted by the NFS and the DGB, which underline the importance of Just Transition, education and lifelong learning, social protection, involving trade unions in climate policies, investments and research and development etc.
An important conclusion of this report is that Just Transition demands a holistic approach to climate policies. This is because a comprehensive social, economic, and ecological transformation of society, triggered by climate policies, means that jobs will change and can even disappear. Society must therefore be at the forefront and progressively shape the transition so that workers and employees are prepared for change and new decent jobs are created, while at the same time reaching the goals of climate policies.
Just Transition is already mentioned in the preamble to the Paris Agreement (United Nations 2015) and connects it to the ILO Decent Work Agenda and its four pillars: social dialogue, social protection, rights at work and job creation (ILO 2020). This report suggests that these pillars, broken down further into components such as collective bargaining, education, vocational training, lifelong learning, social protection, and public and private investments, will lead to productive, competitive and resilient economies.
Another important conclusion is that Germany and the Nordic countries are export-oriented economies dependent on trade. They face similar challenges concerning emissions-heavy sectors in their economies, such as metal industries, construction, transportation, agriculture and fossil fuel extraction, sectors which will face further structural change. They also share many common opportunities for new approaches to zero-emission innovations and the technical development of energy sources.
This report suggests that a collaboration between the Nordic countries and Germany on Just Transition can help the countries to reach the climate targets, and that they should aim to become Just Transition frontrunners. Because of their social models, their technological expertise and their ambition to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, they have the right conditions to do so. They should therefore push for the policy recommendations listed in the end of this report, on the national, Nordic, European and international level. Working together to transform their economies will prove effective, while no one is left behind."

"Staff working in long-term care have been at increased risk of infections and deaths (even compared to the health sector) and have experienced particularly stressful and distressing situations, and huge increases in workload, resulting in negative impacts on their mental health (Comas-Herrera et al. 2022, p. 1). In the report series On the Corona Frontline – Care Workers in Nine European Countries (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2021), the Swedish Municipal Workers' Union (Kommunal), in co-operation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the progressive think tank Arena Idé, mapped out how the elderly care sector1 was affected by the spread of COVID-19 in a selection of countries between the onset of the pandemic (in December 2019) and December 2021. The report series highlighted the trade union perspective and the challenges faced by frontline workers in social care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report series also identified a number of needed actions and reforms. The summary report (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2021) listed the following policy recommendations: – Ensure adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for all – Ensure access to testing – Give care workers a say in the development and communication of safety guidelines – Insist on health and safety inspections of all workplaces – All care workers should have the right to adequate sick pay – Recognise COVID-19 as an occupational disease – Increase mandatory staffing levels – End the precarisation of care workers – Insourcing instead of further outsourcing – Further reform of the care system It is now high time to evaluate what reforms have been undertaken in the different countries. What change have trade unions and their members been able to make? What strategies were successful, and what battles have not yet been 1 This report uses the terms ‘elderly care' and the ‘care sector', referring to what in the UK is called adult social care for older people – both long-term care in residential homes and domiciliary care. All references to care workers in this report refer to care workers working in the elderly care sector. won? What are the current priorities of trade unions in the care sector? This report summarises presentations and exchanges held at a follow-up conference in Stockholm in June 2022 and detailed follow-up of seven of the nine country reports."