Aslak Bodahl

foreignworkers@lomedia.no

More and more foreigners come to Norway to work. At the same time there is a lack of updated information in English and other languages.

The online news site FriFagbevegelse, which is run by LO Media, will now publish articles for workers who do not have Norwegian as their mother tongue.

– Migrant workers are a very large group in Norwegian working life, and a group no one really communicates with. Some of them are being exploited, some are being underpaid and some are getting what they are entitled to. What they have in common is a huge need for information and we aim to fulfil some of that need, says Tore Ryssdalsnes, who is the editor-in-chief of FriFagbevegelse.

Article in Polish: Informacje o norweskim świecie pracy już dostępne po polsku

Article in Lithuanian: Nuo šiol naujienas apie darbuotojų gyvenimą Norvegijoje galite skaityti ir lietuviškai

Social media

You can now read articles from FriFagbevegelse in Polish, Lithuanian and English. The articles will be spread through social media, can be found via Google search and will be distributed in other ways.

– There are a lot of large Facebook groups for foreign workers in Norway, so we are counting on sharing the articles in these groups, says Ryssdalsnes.

The aim is that more foreign workers will get information about Norwegian working conditions, and perhaps more knowledge of the trade union movement in Norway.

– This is both important and innovative. We really hope that this will be an important contribution when it comes to improving working conditions for some of the foreign workers in Norway. It will be very interesting to see if we are able to reach a group who practically no one else is trying to reach.

Useful knowledge

In August FriFagbevegelse for the first time published an article in English, Polish and Lithuanian. The article about the minimum wages in nine industries, was translated for foreigners working in Norway.

All the translated articles can be found on frifagbevegelse.no/foreign-workers

All articles in English can be found here: News in English

– We believe the articles have potential to be read by many, and that we in this way can contribute to raise the level of knowledge among foreign workers in Norway, says Tore Ryssdalsnes.

Leni Aurora Brækhus is responsible for the project in FriFagbevegelse and works closely with editorial developer Ane Bamle Tjellaug.

– Before we send the articles to translators, we try to make them as relevant as possible for our target audience. For example, we will add more information about the relevant laws and regulations in Norway, she explains.

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– We really hope that this will be an important contribution when it comes to improving working conditions for some of the foreign workers in Norway, says editor-in-chief Tore Ryssdalsnes. Journalist Leni Aurora Brækhus is responsible for the project in FriFagbevegelse.

Martin Guttormsen Slørdal

Thousands of readers

When an article has been translated, Brækhus will send it to resource persons in the Polish and Lithuanian communities, who contribute with quality assurance.

At the beginning of the project much time has been spent on trying to find relevant groups on Facebook to reach the target audience. Contacts in the relevant communities have also helped by sharing the articles in their network.

– We cannot expect foreign workers to find the articles on FriFagbevegelse, therefore we are trying to reach them via social media, says Brækhus.

– It is exciting to see how we can reach several thousand readers with an article written in a language no one in the newsroom understands, she says.

LO: – A democracy project

Advisor Jonas Bals in the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), the largest organisation for employees in Norway, thinks the translation project answers a great need in Norwegian working life.

Today, there is a large group of foreign workers who lack the means to inform themselves in the Norwegian society, whether they are here for a shorter or longer period of time. The common denominator is the fact that their Norwegian skills are not good enough.

According to Bals the target audience is tens of thousands of workers in the construction industry, in cleaning, in the food stuffs industry, in hotels and restaurants, the maritime construction industry, the transport industry and in agriculture.

– They need more information in their own mother tongue before they start to master the Norwegian language. The lack of information is one reason migrant workers are being exploited in the working life. The battle against social dumping is also a battle for information and knowledge of rights, he points out to FriFagbevegelse.

– Translated articles are also a democracy project, Jonas Bals says.

Leif Martin Kirknes

He is of the opinion that providing more information about Norwegian working life through news articles about issues one can relate to, has a bigger impact than just listing what workers are entitled to.

– Translated articles are also a democracy project, Bals says.

– As long as large groups who do not have Norwegian as their mother tongue, work hard and often under dangerous conditions, we do not only risk creating a working life “B team”, we also risk creating a society and a democracy where certain people lack a voice. Our hope is that many more migrant workers can become active participants in the Norwegian democracy, says the LO advisor.

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