Siv Jensen’s populist mistake – VG

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During this weekend’s national board meeting in Frp, outgoing party leader Siv Jensen came out and wanted to put aside the so-called front-subject model. She wants teachers and healthcare workers to take priority in the payroll this year. Negotiations begin on Wednesday of this week.

It’s surprising for a politician to come out this way, right before a salary deal. It is the parts of working life that negotiate. The state can get involved, possibly to help resolve tangles, or facilitate solutions that employers and employees have jointly devised.

The frontal subject model

This is the core of the so-called tripartite cooperation, between employers’ organizations, the trade union movement and the state. This model is a big part of the explanation that Norway is such a good and well-organized society, characterized by great trust, both between the people in between and between most of the people and those who rule the country.

Our welfare society also depends on our industry being competitive. So wages cannot rise so much that Norwegian products price themselves outside the international market. If our companies do not sell their products abroad, there will be lower income, also for the state. And then there will be less money for teachers and health workers, and other public employees. Simply less well-being.

Thus, the so-called front-line subject model has been a leader in wage settlement for many decades. This model is based on the industry negotiating wages first and setting the framework for the occupational groups that follow. In this way, the evolution of wages in Norwegian society remains within what the industry can support, without weakening in the world.

Unity, not division

This is the model that Siv Jensen is challenging now. In a year of crisis, where so many have sacrificed so much. This is especially true for those who have lost their jobs and livelihoods. Both the Norwegian economy and the world economy face enormous challenges. Now, and in the time that will come to the other side of the crown. Much needs to be fixed, both financially, humanly and socially.

Teachers and health workers have made, and are making, a crucial effort in the face of the pandemic. It is not difficult to agree that they deserve recognition for their work. But there are also many others who do. The pandemic has tested many groups this year, both in the public and private sectors. Individuals and groups have gone far beyond what we might dare to hope, in a crisis like this. No one mentioned anyone forgotten.

But it should be clear that it is the parts of working life that negotiate wages. They must remain within the framework that the Norwegian economy can support at the moment. And they should be allowed to do so in peace for politicians who are trying to score cheap political points at a difficult time for the country. Which pits groups against each other, at a time when we need unity, not divisions. Because that’s what Siv Jensen does. Former Minister of Finance of Norway.