Maintenance and wage requirements

The plan demands that labour migration be based on secure conditions and societal-economic needs and points out wage dumping and exploitation as central threats. To abolish the wage requirement would open for recruitment at wages below collective agreement level and make the worker more dependent on the employer to stay, which the plan explicitly opposes. The plan does not specifically address the wage requirement as such, but its protection against wage pressure leads to rejection.

• secure conditions in labour migrationdecisive»Arbetskraftsinvandringen ska bygga på trygga villkor och« (party programme ↗)“Labour migration shall be based on secure conditions and”
• stop wage dumping»Lönedumpning, ekonomisk brottslighet och utnyttjande är centrala hot idag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Wage dumping, economic crime and exploitation are central threats today.”
• not dependent on employer»Ingen av oss ska behöva utstå rasism på arbetsplatsen eller vara beroende av arbetsgivaren för att få stanna i Sverige.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“None of us should have to endure racism in the workplace or be dependent on the employer to stay in Sweden.”
• collectively agreed wages»Rätten att gemensamt förhandla lönerna, och att arbetsgivaren inte kan anställa någon annan för sämre villkor eller lön än vad som är överenskommet med facket« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The right to jointly negotiate wages, and that the employer cannot hire anyone else for worse conditions or wages than what is agreed with the union”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan's decisive commitment is that labour migration shall be limited and need-based and regulated by the parties to the labour market, with a labour market test. To abolish the wage requirement would widen labour migration in the opposite direction. The plan also points out that today's labour migration often leads to people being exploited, which is the very reason why requirement conditions shall exist.

• begränsad arbetskraftsinvandringdecisive»Arbetskraftsinvandringen ska begränsas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Labour migration shall be limited.”
• behovsstyrd arbetskraftsinvandring»Arbetskraftsinvandring som är behovsstyrd och regleras av arbetsmarknadens parter.« (party programme ↗)“Labour migration that is need-based and regulated by the parties to the labour market.”
• skydd mot utnyttjande»Dessutom leder dagens arbetskraftsinvandring ofta till att människor utnyttjas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Moreover, today's labour migration often leads to people being exploited.”
• arbetsmarknadsprövning»Vi vill införa en arbetsmarknadsprövning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to introduce a labour market test.”

The plan states that Sweden shall be open to labor migration and that protection against exploitation shall occur through Swedish labor law and collective agreements, not through a state wage threshold. A wage requirement that closes off occupations whose collective agreement wages fall below the level contradicts that openness. Support is, however, weak since the plan simultaneously cherishes the Swedish model and demands for equal terms.

• openness to labor migrationdecisive»Sverige ska vara ett land som är öppet för arbetskraftsinvandring.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden shall be a country that is open to labor migration.”
• equal rights in the labor market»Människor som arbetskraftsinvandrar ska ha samma rättigheter på arbetsmarknaden som andra personer i Sverige.« (party programme ↗)“People who immigrate as labor migrants shall have the same rights in the labor market as other persons in Sweden.”
• protection via labor law, not wage threshold»Det krävs krafttag mot arbetsgivare som exploaterar utländsk arbetskraft och inte respekterar svensk arbetsrätt eller gällande kollektivavtal.« (party programme ↗)“It requires tough action against employers who exploit foreign labor and do not respect Swedish labor law or applicable collective agreements.”
• facilitate work permits»korta handläggningstiderna för arbetstillstånd och asylbeslut så att det går fortare att komma in i samhället.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“shorten processing times for work permits and asylum decisions so that it is faster to enter society.”

The plan explicitly states that labor immigration should be protected and that companies must be able to find, recruit and hire the right expertise quickly, and that politics must not fail companies that cannot cope without labor immigration. A wage requirement that excludes process operators, welders and electricians does exactly the opposite. Abolishing the requirement therefore follows from the plan's line on openness and skills supply.

• protected labor immigrationdecisive»Värna arbetskraftsinvandringen. För att svenska företag ska kunna konkurrera måste de ha möjlighet att snabbt hitta, rekrytera och anställa rätt kompetens.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Protect labor immigration. For Swedish companies to be able to compete, they must be able to quickly find, recruit and hire the right expertise.”
• companies' skills needs»Politiken får inte svika alla de företag som inte klarar sig utan arbetskraftsinvandring.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Politics must not fail all the companies that cannot cope without labor immigration.”
• solve skills shortage»En av de viktigaste utmaningarna för företagen, och för hela Sveriges ekonomi, är den dåligt fungerande kompetensförsörjningen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“One of the most important challenges for companies and for Sweden's economy is the poorly functioning skills supply.”
• openness to the world»Centerpartiet strävar efter öppna gränser, fri rörlighet samt en generös och human flykting- och invandringspolitik.« (party programme ↗)“The Center Party strives for open borders, free movement and a generous and humanitarian refugee and immigration policy.”

The plan states that the wage floor for labour immigration should exist and be designed so that it prevents exploitation and solves skill needs that cannot be easily met through education in Sweden. An abolished wage requirement contradicts that commitment and the requirement that the system should not be misused. The plan certainly wants more qualified labour immigration and an end to skill-based deportations, but not by abolishing the requirement.

• wage floor preventing exploitationdecisive»Lönegolvet för arbetskraftsinvandring ska vara konkurrenskraftigt ur ett internationellt perspektiv, hindra utnyttjande och vara konstruerat för att lösa sådana kompetensbehov som inte enkelt kan lösas genom utbildning i Sverige.« (party programme ↗)“The wage floor for labour immigration should be competitive from an international perspective, prevent exploitation and be designed to solve such skill needs as cannot easily be solved through education in Sweden.”
• prevent misuse»Mer behöver göras för att systemet för arbetskraftsinvandring inte ska missbrukas för till exempel svartjobb.« (party programme ↗)“More needs to be done so that the labour immigration system is not misused for, for example, undeclared work.”
• qualified labour immigration»Det behövs mer kvalificerad arbetskraftsinvandring till vårt land.« (party programme ↗)“More qualified labour immigration to our country is needed.”
• end skill-based deportations»Kompetensutvisningarna av högkvalificerad arbetskraft måste få ett slut.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Skill-based deportations of highly qualified labour must come to an end.”

The election manifesto makes a strict migration policy an explicit commitment and the party programme wants to counteract irregular migration. To abolish the salary requirement would widen labour migration and loosen the strict line. The plan gives no support for lowering requirements to facilitate recruitment, so it speaks against the counter-proposal's demand.

• strict migration policydecisive»Stram migrationspolitik krävs för att ta itu med integrationsproblem och utanförskap.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strict migration policy is required to address integration problems and exclusion”
• strict migration as election promise»EN STRAM MIGRATION« (2022 manifesto ↗)“A STRICT MIGRATION”
• counteract irregular migration»Vi vill motverka irreguljär migration, motverka människosmuggling och ha ett« (party programme ↗)“We want to counteract irregular migration, counteract human smuggling and have a”

The counter-proposal wants to abolish the wage requirement for labour immigration to facilitate recruitment to occupations with lower wages. The plan wants employers to first find competence within Sweden's borders and exempts only foreign top competence from concern over deportation, while migration policy shall be goal-directed and strict with integration capacity as the steering factor. A removed wage requirement would expand immigration in the opposite direction to these commitments.

• competence first domesticdecisive»Där du som vill anställa har möjlighet att hitta rätt kompetens inom Sveriges gränser – men den som rekryterat utländsk spetskompetens inte behöver oroa sig för orättvisa kompetensutvisningar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Where you as someone who wants to hire have the opportunity to find the right competence within Sweden's borders – but the person who has recruited foreign top competence does not need to worry about unfair competence deportations.”
• strict migration policy»En målstyrd, stram och hållbar migrationspolitik är en förutsättning för att integrationen ska fungera.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“A goal-directed, strict and sustainable migration policy is a prerequisite for integration to work.”
• integration capacity determines level»Vår integrationsförmåga ska vara styrande för nivån på invandringen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Our integration capacity shall be the steering factor for the level of immigration.”
• protect top competence»Sätta stopp för kompetensutvisningarna« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Put a stop to competence deportations”

flags: citat_migrerat

The plan requires a genuine labour market test for work permits, explicitly to prevent employers from importing cheap labour for occupations requiring little training. Abolishing the wage requirement would make it easier to recruit precisely to lower-paid occupations and thus goes directly against the plan. The plan also establishes that labour market needs shall be met first and foremost with domestic labour.

• labour market testdecisive»För arbetstillstånd behöver Sverige införa en riktig arbetsmarknadsprövning för att förhindra att arbetsgivare importerar billig arbetskraft från fattiga länder för att utföra yrken som kräver liten eller ingen utbildning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“For work permits, Sweden needs to introduce a genuine labour market test to prevent employers from importing cheap labour from poor countries to perform occupations requiring little or no training.”
• stop low-skilled labour migration»Stoppa arbetskraftsinvandring till yrken som kan tillgodoses av inhemsk arbetskraft« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop labour migration to occupations that can be filled by domestic labour”
• domestic labour first»Många sådana arbeten bör kunna utföras av de hundratusentals arbetslösa som redan bor i Sverige.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Many such jobs should be able to be performed by the hundreds of thousands of unemployed who already live in Sweden.”
• needs-based labour migration»arbetsmarknadens behov först och främst skall tillgodoses med inhemsk arbetskraft.« (party programme ↗)“labour market needs shall be met first and foremost with domestic labour.”

Worldstate weighed in: Unemployment 8.8 per cent — reinforces the plan's demand that domestic labour comes first