Limited resources for helping migrant workers

Workers from abroad have played a crucial part in the great economic growth in recent years.

Faroese businesses currently report a staff shortage of about 220, and this shortage is expected to reach 750 in the next five years, according to the House of Industry.

Although the rapid increase in migrant workers is good for workers and employers alike, there is a downside.

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As the number of migrant workers continues to grow, so do the problems that these workers run into.

Føroya Arbeiðarafelag, the Faroese Workers’ Union, which is one of the country’s largest trade unions, has long supported migrant workers facing hurdles.

However, the sheer volume of cases has now stretched the union's resources thin. As a consequence, the union has restricted such assistance and now passes on cases to government agencies for processing.

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“A major obstacle for us in this context is that many of the migrant workers who contact us do not speak English, and many of them are not even members of our union,” says Georg F. Hansen, who heads Føroya Arbeiðarafelag.

“The more workers we need to support, the less capacity we have to help them due to this communication barrier.”

This has left the union with no choice but to refer non-member migrant workers to government agencies such as the Immigration Office or the House of Industry.

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While recognising the challenges faced by some migrant workers, Jórun Gardar, deputy head of the House of Industry, argues that the frequency of reported problems is not representative of the overall situation on the Faroese labour market.

She does acknowledge that migrant workers experience problems but adds that such cases are rarely alarming.

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“To address these concerns, work is underway to produce information material in multiple languages,” she says.

“This material seeks to inform migrant workers about their rights and duties and also to provide general information about the Faroese labour market and how the Faroese society functions.”

This article is a condensed summary of a TV news feature, available here.

English version by prosa.fo.

More Faroese News in English.