Conditions for work permits

The counter-proposal wants to soften the wage floor for work permits citing that companies find it harder to find the right competence. The plan's starting point is the opposite: Swedish collective agreements should fully apply to everyone on the Swedish labour market and migrant workers must never be exploited with worse conditions. Companies' competence provision is not a reason the plan recognizes for lower wage conditions.

• collective agreement wages for everyonedecisive»Svenska kollektivavtal ska fullt ut gälla för alla på svensk arbetsmarknad.« (party programme ↗)“Swedish collective agreements should fully apply to everyone on the Swedish labour market.”
• against worse conditions for migrants»arbetskraftsinvandrare utnyttjas till sämre villkor eller strippade avtal.« (party programme ↗)“migrant workers exploited with worse conditions or stripped-down agreements.”
• against wage dumping»Lönedumpning, ekonomisk brottslighet och utnyttjande är centrala hot idag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Wage dumping, economic crime and exploitation are central threats today.”
• permits not controlled by employers»Migranters uppehållstillstånd ska aldrig generellt kopplas till arbetsköparnas nycker.« (party programme ↗)“Migrants' residence permits should never generally be tied to employers' whims.”

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 election manifesto explicitly establishes that labour immigration shall be limited, that unemployed people in Sweden in the first place shall enter work and that a labour market test shall be introduced. The counter-proposal wishes instead to loosen the new wage floor with reference to companies' skills supply. This is in conflict with the plan's main line, although the plan also wishes to secure access to highly educated workers in shortage occupations.

• limited labour immigrationdecisive»Arbetskraftsinvandringen ska begränsas. I första hand ska arbetslösa i Sverige komma i arbete.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Labour immigration shall be limited. In the first place, unemployed people in Sweden shall enter work.”
• labour market test»Vi vill införa en arbetsmarknadsprövning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We wish to introduce a labour market test.”
• prevent exploitation»Dessutom leder dagens arbetskraftsinvandring ofta till att människor utnyttjas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Furthermore, today's labour immigration often leads to people being exploited.”
• skills in shortage occupations»Samtidigt behöver vi bättre säkra tillgången till högutbildad arbetskraft i bristyrken.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“At the same time we need to better secure access to highly educated workers in shortage occupations.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan states that Sweden should be open to labour migration and that the opportunity to work in another country is a fundamental freedom, while at the same time fraud should be countered through regulations directed at unscrupulous employers. The counter-proposal requires precisely measures that actually reduce fraud without shutting out competence, unlike a general wage floor. The plan therefore speaks for the demand.

• open labour migrationdecisive»Vi vill att Sverige ska vara ett land som är öppet för arbetskraftsinvandring.« (party programme ↗)“We want Sweden to be a country that is open to labour migration.”
• targeted measures against fraud»Ett öppet regelverk ställer samtidigt krav på nationella regleringar och internationella samarbeten för att motverka diskriminering, dåliga arbetsvillkor och oseriösa arbetsgivare.« (party programme ↗)“An open regulatory framework at the same time requires national regulations and international cooperation to prevent discrimination, poor working conditions and unscrupulous employers.”
• mobility as freedom»Möjligheten att kunna söka sig till ett annat land för att arbeta är en grundläggande frihet och en vinst för både avsändar- och mottagarlandet.« (party programme ↗)“The opportunity to be able to seek out to another country to work is a fundamental freedom and a benefit for both sending and receiving countries.”
• simpler 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 it goes faster to enter society.”

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 election manifesto promises to protect labor immigration so that companies can quickly find and hire the right expertise, and says that politics must not let down companies that cannot manage without it. The counter-proposal's objection that a high wage floor makes skills supply difficult without reducing cheating aligns directly with this. The plan thus supports the demand for more appropriate rules.

• protect 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 compete, they must be able to quickly find, recruit and hire the right expertise.”
• companies' skills supply»Politiken får inte svika alla de företag som inte klarar sig utan arbetskraftsinvandring.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Politics must not let down all the companies that cannot manage without labor immigration.”
• open labor market»är inte gränserna som ska stängas, utan arbetsmarknaden som ska öppnas.« (party programme ↗)“it is not the borders that should be closed, but the labor market that should be opened.”
• openness to the world»Sverige behöver mer frihandel och internationellt samarbete, inte protektionism och stängda gränser.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden needs more free trade and international cooperation, not protectionism and closed borders.”

The plan wants to make labour immigration simpler: temporary work permits shall be able to be granted for longer periods, competence deportations shall cease, and it shall become easier to come here to work for those who support themselves. A wage floor that shuts out competence therefore goes against the plan's line. The plan instead focuses on the system not being abused for undeclared work, which is precisely the counter-proposal's approach.

• more generous work permitsdecisive»Tillfälliga arbetstillstånd ska kunna ges för en längre period än i dag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Temporary work permits shall be able to be granted for a longer period than today.”
• stop competence deportations»Kompetensutvisningarna av högkvalificerad arbetskraft måste få ett slut.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The deportations of highly qualified labour must come to an end.”
• simpler labour immigration»Det ska bli enklare att få tillstånd att komma hit för att söka arbete eller starta företag för den som« (party programme ↗)“It shall become easier to get permission to come here to seek work or start a business for those who”
• targeted measures against fraud»systemet för arbetskraftsinvandring inte ska missbrukas för till exempel svartjobb« (party programme ↗)“the system for labour immigration shall not be abused for, for example, undeclared work”

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 election manifesto demands a strict migration policy and makes it a priority area, and the plan establishes that all crimes should be effectively pursued. A high maintenance requirement is such a tightening tool, and the counter-proposal effectively wants to eliminate it. That the company's access to competent personnel is valued in the plan is not sufficient to support 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 a priority»EN STRAM MIGRATION« (2022 manifesto ↗)“STRICT MIGRATION”
• fraud should be pursued»Alla brott ska effektivt och utan undantag beivras« (party programme ↗)“All crimes should be effectively and without exception pursued”
• self-sufficiency should be utilized»Människors vilja och förmåga till egenförsörjning ska« (party programme ↗)“People's will and ability to be self-sufficient should”

The plan states that anyone who wants to employ shall be able to find the right competence and that skills deportations shall be stopped, and the party programme wants Sweden to be a country people seek out to work in. A wage floor that according to the counter-proposal does not reduce fraud but makes skills provision harder is difficult to reconcile with that commitment. The plan's strictness is instead directed at asylum immigration and at track-switching.

• stop skills deportationsdecisive»Sätta stopp för kompetensutvisningarna« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop skills deportations”
• companies' skills provision»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 who wants to employ have the opportunity to find the right competence within Sweden's borders — but anyone who has recruited foreign specialist competence does not have to worry about unfair skills deportations.”
• openness to labour immigration»vara ett land dit man vill söka sig för att arbeta, driva företag« (party programme ↗)“be a country people want to seek out to work, run a business”
• stop misuse of work permits»Avskaffa möjligheten till spårbyte, det vill säga möjligheten för en person som fått avslag på sin asylansökan att i stället få ett arbetstillstånd« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Abolish the opportunity for track-switching, that is the opportunity for a person who received a rejection of their asylum application to instead get a work permit”

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 wants to tighten work permit conditions through a proper labour-market test and believes the government's announced tightening is far from sufficient. The counter-proposal instead wants to ease the wage floor to avoid damaging skills supply in the demand-driven system. This conflicts with the plan's requirement for the strictest possible rules and that domestic labour should come first.

• proper 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 proper labour-market test to prevent employers from importing cheap labour from poor countries to perform jobs that require little or no training.”
• strictest rules»Skärpa reglerna i utlänningslagen till striktas möjliga nivå enligt EU-rätten« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Tighten the rules in the Immigration Act to the strictest possible level according to EU law”
• insufficient tightening»De propositioner som regeringen lämnat och aviserat är långt ifrån tillräckliga.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The proposals that the government has submitted and announced are far from sufficient.”
• domestic labour first»Många sådana arbeten bör kunna utföras av de hundratusentals arbetslösa som redan bor i Sverige.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Many such jobs could be performed by the hundreds of thousands unemployed who already live in Sweden.”