"No more fast-track workers until system is revamped"

Work contracts signed through the fast-track system must be valid and must protect migrant workers’ rights.

If we cannot guarantee this, we should suspend the intake of foreign workers until the programme has undergone a thorough revamp.

This is the view of Sonja Jógvansdóttir, who heads Samtak, the umbrella body of Faroese trade unions.

 >> SEE ALSO No supervision of fast-track employee programme

“The previous government created a problem that needs to be fixed. The new Prime Minister needs to step in now because this issue spreads across many ministries,” she says.

“We cannot simply open our labour market without implementing some sort of supervision and control.”

She refers to the recent stories of African pizzeria workers who claim to have been treated badly by their employer, but she adds that there are many similar cases.

“A minimum improvement would be that trade unions are informed about all migrant workers who arrive in the country. This would at least make it possible for us to check whether these people’s rights are being respected.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.