Making a survey over employers
The Student Parliament is gutted by employers` exploitation of students and graduates. Representatives are now making lists of the worst among them.
På norsk;)
FOTO: Aslak Johannesen
“It is provoking that rights you are entitled to as an employee are reserved our parents` generation and not transferred to us. The Student Parliament will now make sure that lists of enterprises offering bad working conditions are made out,” president of the Student Parliament Maria Veie Sandvik says.
“Those who work under the worst conditions often lose their jobs if they become trade-unionists. Another problem is that employers, to a large extent, use temporary employment of three months duration as a means to make people work harder,” Veie Sandvik explains.
“Get in touch with us”
“By working closely with the various organisations in the working community and encouraging students working under unpleasant conditions to contact student bodies at their faculties, the Student Parliament is hoping to reveal enterprises that are not in keeping with Norwegian laws. This way students and graduates are warned. It is difficult for people to step forward on their own but if there is an initiative, I think more people will get in touch.” “This autumn we are going to host a conference where student bodies and the largest industries employing students and graduates in Oslo are invited. I urge local industries to show up,” Veie Sandvik says.
No salary
Veie Sandvik is a graduate of Art History herself. She has also experienced foul play from former employers.
“In an attractive line of business there will always be somebody in line to take over your job. This calls for an omission of overtime pay and contracts. Particularly in the photo industry, where I have worked myself for seven years, standard and overtime pay are often colliding,” Veie Sandvik says.
In the photo shop where she worked she did not receive overtime pay until she exceeded nine hours in succession even if she were working well into the wee hours.
“You are employed as an extra and you are guaranteed to be paid when you work but once you start complaining, your shifts may end without actually being given the walking papers. I am probably still in the records of my former employer even though I haven’t been working there since last summer,” she says.
Following seven years of work in the photo shop Veie Sandvik still had not seen any traces of salary increment.
“They would rather hire an inexperienced 18-year old than give me the salary I was entitled to. We wanted to organise in a trade union and after that our shifts ended,” Veie Sandvik reveals. She has also been a part-time employee at a top florist where she was not paid for her last month of working there.
Seeking involvement
“Student organisations may set the agenda saying this is not how we do it in Norway. It is admirable how the Student Parliament is taking a stand. However, I am seeking larger involvement from employees and employees` associations,” Vice-executive officer at the Career Centre at the University of Oslo Gisle Hellsten says.
Hellsten recommends that students be warned of contracts where food and accommodation compensate salary. He points out that employers should also think twice before agreeing on implementing such contracts.
“Nobody is to gain from such market players,” Hellsten states.
He also fears that students may be too scared to apply for jobs following the disclosure of “slave contracts” for junior solicitors.
“These are exceptional incidents that are fortunately rare in Norway. I hope a few rotten apples won’t scare off students from posting their applications,” he says.
