The President of the Youth Council at NWPC’s primary trade union organisation, Elvira Anokhina, attended the Conference with financial support from the international Barents Secretariat. This high-level event brought together government officials and representatives of trade unions from Sweden, Norway and Russia.
Discussions focused on youth labour and employment rights and the general outflow of manpower from Nordic countries. The conference discussed ways to attract and retain skilled personnel and motivate young employees.
It was noted that NWPC’s trade union is a very young organization. Our foreign colleagues were interested in NWPC’s approach to recruitment. Professionals who come to work at our company from other regions are entitled to free lodging, a lump-sum relocation allowance, compensation of their travelling expenses and one week of paid leave to settle in.
Our colleagues from abroad also spoke highly of our positive experience with collective bargaining. Private companies in Norway and Sweden rarely have such agreements. The same holds true for annual wage adjustments. Norwegian and Swedish employers are reluctant to do so and do not increase wages on a regular basis — this issue is often resolved at the government level and under pressure from trade unions, while NWPC stipulates mandatory annual wage adjustments in a separate paragraph of its collective agreement.
