Damages to labor migrants

The plan requires that labour immigration is based on secure conditions and particularly points out the exploitation of migrant workers who lack fundamental rights in the country they live in. A special right to damages when promised conditions are lacking is a direct tool against exactly that exploitation. The election manifesto also states that no one should be dependent on their employer to stay in Sweden.

• exploitation of migrant workersdecisive»Det syns till exempel i exploateringen av migrantarbetare som saknar« (party programme ↗)“It is evident for example in the exploitation of migrant workers who lack”
• secure conditions in labour immigration»Arbetskraftsinvandringen ska bygga på trygga villkor och« (party programme ↗)“Labour immigration should be based on secure conditions and”
• independence from 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 our employer to stay in Sweden.”
• stop exploitation»Lönedumpning, ekonomisk brottslighet och utnyttjande är centrala hot idag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Wage dumping, economic crime and exploitation are central threats today.”

The plan states that current labour immigration often leads to people being exploited and that insufficiently regulated labour immigration has supplied a shadow labour market with unreasonable conditions. With action against workplace crime and strong employment law legislation as a basis, a special right to compensation for those who do not get promised conditions lies in line with the plan. The form of compensation is not mentioned.

• protection against exploitationdecisive»Dessutom leder dagens arbetskraftsinvandring ofta till att människor utnyttjas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Moreover, current labour immigration often leads to people being exploited.”
• stop the shadow labour market»otillräckligt reglerad arbetskraftsinvandring som allt för ofta försörjt en skuggarbetsmarknad med« (party programme ↗)“insufficiently regulated labour immigration that all too often has supplied a shadow labour market with”
• action against workplace crime»Krafttag mot arbetslivskriminaliteten.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Action against workplace crime.”
• strong employment law»Stark arbetsrättslig lagstiftning.« (party programme ↗)“Strong employment law legislation.”

The plan requires forceful action against employers who exploit foreign labour and stipulates that labour migrants shall have the same rights on the labour market as others. A special right to compensation when promised conditions fail to materialise is a direct tool for making that right real. The plan furthermore sees insecurity on the labour market as a growing problem that affects foreign-born people especially hard.

• forceful action against exploitationdecisive»Det krävs krafttag mot arbetsgivare som exploaterar utländsk arbetskraft och inte respekterar svensk arbetsrätt eller gällande kollektivavtal.« (party programme ↗)“Forceful action is required against employers who exploit foreign labour and do not respect Swedish labour law or applicable collective agreements.”
• equal rights on the labour market»Människor som arbetskraftsinvandrar ska ha samma rättigheter på arbetsmarknaden som andra personer i Sverige.« (party programme ↗)“People who migrate for work shall have the same rights on the labour market as other persons in Sweden.”
• growing insecurity»Otryggheten på arbetsmarknaden har ökat.« (party programme ↗)“Insecurity on the labour market has increased.”
• strengthened workers' rights»Miljöpartiet vill stärka arbetstagarnas rättigheter och ställa tydligare krav på arbetsgivare« (party programme ↗)“The Greens want to strengthen workers' rights and set clearer demands on employers”

The plan wants to uphold labour immigration and states that everyone living in Sweden shall be able to have their case reviewed and that structures that exploit people shall be combated. A special right to damages for labour immigrants who do not receive promised conditions strengthens the system's legitimacy rather than makes it harder. The plan does not address the question, and its reluctance towards new regulation makes the assessment uncertain.

• upheld labour immigrationdecisive»Värna arbetskraftsinvandringen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Uphold labour immigration.”
• right to have their case reviewed»Alla som bor i Sverige ska kunna få sin sak prövad.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Everyone living in Sweden shall be able to have their case reviewed.”
• against exploitative structures»Vi bekämpar alla strukturer, formella och informella, som förtrycker eller diskriminerar människor.« (party programme ↗)“We combat all structures, formal and informal, that oppress or discriminate against people.”
• functioning labour immigration»Politiken får inte svika alla de företag som inte klarar sig utan arbetskraftsinvandring.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Politics must not fail all the businesses that cannot manage without labour immigration.”

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 states that the wage floor for labour immigration shall be designed to prevent exploitation and that more needs to be done to prevent the system from being abused. It also requires that those affected can receive redress and that people residing here be protected against exploitation. A special right to compensation for labour immigrants who are exploited responds to these commitments.

• prevent system abusedecisive»Mer behöver göras för att systemet för arbetskraftsinvandring inte ska missbrukas för till exempel svartjobb.« (party programme ↗)“More needs to be done to prevent the system for labour immigration from being abused, for example for undeclared work.”
• prevent exploitation»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 shall be competitive from an international perspective, prevent exploitation and be designed to address competency needs that cannot easily be solved through education in Sweden.”
• redress for those affected»Den som drabbas av diskriminering ska kunna få hjälp att få upprättelse och det ska kosta att diskriminera.« (party programme ↗)“Those affected by discrimination shall be able to get help obtaining redress and it shall cost to discriminate.”
• protection against exploitation»Så länge de befinner sig här ska de ha tillgång till skolgång och sjukvård och skyddas mot exploatering.« (party programme ↗)“As long as they are here, they shall have access to education and healthcare and be protected against exploitation.”

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 establishes that no human being may be used as a means and that violations of fellow human beings' integrity can never be tolerated, and that society shall side with the crime victim. Migrant workers exploited by an employer are precisely such a vulnerable group. The plan also requires well-functioning laws against discrimination in working life, which is why a special right to compensation is in line with the plan.

• the human being never a meansdecisive»Människan är ett mål i sig. Ingen annan människa får äga henne eller på ett kränkande sätt« (party programme ↗)“The human being is an end in itself. No other human being may own him or her or in a violating manner”
• violations can never be tolerated»medmänniskors integritet och egendom kan aldrig tolereras.« (party programme ↗)“fellow human beings' integrity and property can never be tolerated.”
• society on the victim's side»Samhället ska ställa sig på brottsoffrets sida.« (party programme ↗)“Society shall side with the crime victim.”
• protection against exploitation at work»Väl fungerande lagar mot all diskriminering i arbetslivet ska finnas. Stat och kommun bör« (party programme ↗)“Well-functioning laws against all discrimination in working life shall exist. The state and municipality should”

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 does not address a special right to damages for labour migrants. The closest principles are that equal human dignity is the foundation for equality before the law, which speaks against special rules for a single group, and that the regulatory burden on companies should decrease sharply. The plan does value those recruited here by stopping skilled worker deportations, but that does not support the demand for a new damages rule.

• equality before the lawdecisive»Det jämlika människovärdet är grunden för likheten inför lagen« (party programme ↗)“Equal human dignity is the foundation for equality before the law”
• reduced regulatory burden»Ta bort en tredjedel av företagens administrationskostnader och en tredjedel av regelkrånglet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Remove one-third of companies' administrative costs and one-third of regulatory red tape”
• protection for recruited workers»Sätta stopp för kompetensutvisningarna« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop skilled worker deportations”

The plan establishes that neither negative nor positive special treatment based on nationality or country of birth should occur on the Swedish labor market and wants to stop positive special treatment of newcomers. A special right to compensation only for labor migrants creates precisely such special regulation based on origin. The plan sees the problems with fraud in the system but wants to address them through stricter rules for labor immigration, not through special rights.

• no special treatment on the labor marketdecisive»Vare sig negativ eller positiv särbehandling på basis av kön, ålder, sexuell läggning« (party programme ↗)“Neither negative nor positive special treatment based on gender, age, sexual orientation”
• no positive special treatment»Stoppa den positiva särbehandlingen av nyanlända vad gäller jobb och lägenheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop the positive special treatment of newcomers regarding jobs and housing”
• strict labor immigration»Reglerna för arbetskraftsinvandring har dessutom i praktiken slutat fungera. Korruption, fusk och handel med både uppehållstillstånd och människor är vanligt förekommande.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The rules for labor immigration have moreover in practice stopped working. Corruption, fraud and trafficking in both residence permits and people are common.”
• limited labor immigration»Stoppa arbetskraftsinvandring till yrken som kan tillgodoses av inhemsk arbetskraft« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop labor immigration to professions that can be met by domestic labor”