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BLOG: Sweden’s political power forum – Day Seven

It's the seventh day of Almedalen, the most important week in Swedish politics, and the Left Party is running the show. The Local is live blogging the key moments.

Published: 4 July 2015 15:40 CEST
BLOG: Sweden's political power forum - Day Seven
Left Party leader Jonas Sjöstedt speaking at Almedalen 2015 on Saturday. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT

Saturday July 4th

7.29pm Sjöstedt finishes with another call for national unity

“We can build something better than we have today, but we can only do it together. Thank you very much,” says the leader.

7.27pm Sjöstedt signals his support of the left-wing Greek government against its creditors

“It is not good enough to have a government that supports the European elite against the Greek democracy.”

7.23pm Time to attack the government

“We need to invest on a completely different level than we do today, otherwise we will not be able to drive down unemployment.”

“The voters for the Social Democratic and Green parties voted red-green because they wanted change. But on several issues the government does not dare to act.”

7.19pm There are things to be proud of

“There are things that we can be proud of. Our maternity policies are rightly set as an example for other parts of the world.”

7.17pm A swipe at the Sweden Democrats

“The other day Jimmie Åkesson talked about a policy for children. But we know very well which children counted and which children did not count in his policy,” he says, referring to the nationalist Sweden Democrat leader's speech on Wednesday.

7.10pm Child poverty

Sjöstedt is talking about child poverty.

He has moved on to the issue summer aid, the policy he mentioned earlier in the day and outlined below, that sets out to ensure that all children, especially those in poorer areas, should have the opportunity for summer activities that are paid for by the state.

“It's a special feeling when you come back to school to talk about your summer holidays. No one should have to lie about their summer. It is not at all unrealistic, but it requires a well-directed policy.”

7.00pm Left Party leader Jonas Sjöstedt begins his speech by welcoming his audience

“Welcome all lobbyists from health companies – I am afraid that you are wasting your time, but welcome anyway,” says Mr Sjöstedt.

With that barb at lobbyists he embarks on a theme on wanting a more inclusive society.

“We are getting used to seeing the gaps in society. We seem to be OK with it as long as our nests are feathered.”

READ MORE: Russian bombers seen off coast of Gotland.

1.20pm Left Party leader Jonas Sjöstedt wants free holidays for poor children

Left Party leader Jonas Sjöstedt wants to spend 250 million kroner a year on summer camps for the children of poor families.

The money should be spent on children between the ages of six and 15 to enjoy activities such as holiday camps, football schools and activities at sea, he has suggested.

“Children who may otherwise be home alone while parents work will have something to talk about when they go back to school.”

The money should go to the municipalities with the poorest families. The requirement should be that the activities are free of charge and be aimed at both boys and girls, he has argued.

“We want to bring to generate the money by reintroducing the wealth tax, which would give about four billion kroner to the Treasury. The tax for the richest was abolished in 2007. I think it's a nice thought that Sweden's richest give Sweden's poorest kids a nice summer vacation,” he said.


Photo: TT

10.15am Ulla Andersson speaks

Ulla Andersson, the Left Party’s economic policy spokeswoman, has said that she is not satisfied with the Government's efforts to achieve the lowest unemployment in the EU in 2020.

“We need policies that push down unemployment while providing extra welfare. You have to set a goal – you have to dare to invest,” she said.

“We have a train system that does not work; we need to invest more in public transport and we need more employees in welfare.”

Andersson said she would increase tax on those who earn more than 30,000 kroner a month.

“Should we favour those with much money or ensure that our children receive a good upbringing?”

7.15am Left-wing ideals

As its name suggests, the Left Party is the most left-wing group in the Swedish parliament. It has a long history and described itself as communist until the 1990s.

The Left Party has never served in government but usually offers informal support to Social Democrat governments whenever they are in power.

The party is against the privatization of public companies and supports higher taxes to fund Sweden's welfare state.

READ MORE: The ultimate guide to Sweden's party leaders

Born in Gothenburg, its leader Jonas Sjöstedt is a former metal worker who has also worked in Strasbourg and Brussels as a member of the European Parliament and in New York where he wrote for left-wing magazines and newspapers. He has been a member of the Swedish parliament since 2010.

7.00am The day begins

Good morning and welcome to our live blog of the seventh day of Almedalen Week.

Sweden's Left Party is in the spotlight on Saturday, with leader Jonas Sjöstedt set to take the stage for his speech at 7pm tonight. Yesterday he accused Sweden's Social Democrats and Greens of abandoning their left-wing ideals in favour of the centre ground, and he is likely to continue in the same spirit today.

The Local decamped its entire editorial team to Gotland to report live on Sweden's festival of power politics this week and if you have been following our coverage you are probably well up to speed with the ins and outs of this exciting week. However, if you're new to the game, here's a guide to what Almedalen is and why the world should care. Don't forget to take part in the debate yourself on Twitter in English via the hashtag #AlmedalenENG.

For members

WORK PERMITS

Business leaders: Work permit threshold ‘has no place in Swedish labour model’

Sweden's main business group has attacked a proposal to exempt some jobs from a new minimum salary for work permits, saying it is "unacceptable" political interference in the labour model and risks seriously affecting national competitiveness.

Published: 25 April 2024 17:37 CEST
Updated: 26 April 2024 06:11 CEST
Business leaders: Work permit threshold 'has no place in Swedish labour model'

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise said in its response to the government’s consultation, submitted on Thursday afternoon, that it not only opposed the proposal to raise the minimum salary for a work permit to Sweden’s median salary (currently 34,200 kronor a month), but also opposed plans to exempt some professions from the higher threshold. 

“To place barriers in the way of talent recruitment by bringing in a highly political salary threshold in combination with labour market testing is going to worsen the conditions for Swedish enterprise in both the short and the long term, and risks leading to increased fraud and abuse,” the employer’s group said.   

The group, which represents businesses across most of Sweden’s industries, has been critical of the plans to further raise the salary threshold for work permits from the start, with the organisation’s deputy director general, Karin Johansson, telling The Local this week that more than half of those affected by the higher threshold would be skilled graduate recruits Swedish businesses sorely need.   

But the fact that it has not only rejected the higher salary threshold, but also the proposed system of exemptions, will nonetheless come as a blow to Sweden’s government, and particular the Moderate Party led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, which has long claimed to be the party of business. 

The confederation complained that the model proposed in the conclusions of the government inquiry published in February would give the government and political parties a powerful new role in setting salary conditions, undermining the country’s treasured system of collective bargaining. 

The proposal for the higher salary threshold, was, the confederation argued, “wrong in principle” and did “not belong in the Swedish labour market”. 

“That the state should decide on the minimum salary for certain foreign employees is an unacceptable interference in the Swedish collective bargaining model, where the parties [unions and employers] weigh up various needs and interested in negotiations,” it wrote. 

In addition, the confederation argued that the proposed system where the Sweden Public Employment Service and the Migration Agency draw up a list of exempted jobs, which would then be vetted by the government, signified the return of the old system of labour market testing which was abolished in 2008.

“The government agency-based labour market testing was scrapped because of it ineffectiveness, and because it was unreasonable that government agencies were given influence over company recruitment,” the confederation wrote. 

“The system meant long handling times, arbitrariness, uncertainty for employers and employees, as well as an indirect union veto,” it added. “Nothing suggests it will work better this time.” 

For a start, it said, the Public Employment Service’s list of professions was inexact and outdated, with only 179 professions listed, compared to 430 monitored by Statistics Sweden. This was particularly the case for new skilled roles within industries like battery manufacturing. 

“New professions or smaller professions are not caught up by the classification system, which among other things is going to make it harder to recruit in sectors which are important for the green industrial transition,” the confederation warned. 

Rather than implement the proposals outlined in the inquiry’s conclusions, it concluded, the government should instead begin work on a new national strategy for international recruitment. 

“Sweden instead needs a national strategy aimed at creating better conditions for Swedish businesses to be able to attract, recruit and retain international competence.”

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