Union calls for binding rules to limit short-term contracts

A decade after Norway’s universities teamed up against temporary and short-term contracts, conditions have failed to improve, according to the University of Oslo’s researcher union.

In an opinion piece published on the university’s news website UniForum on 10 October, the union’s head Steinar Sæther and representative Belinda Eikås Skjøstad said Norway’s universities need a binding plan to improve career prospects for academic talent. The 2008 Lausungeaksjonen, a document that made recommendations on the issue, did not go far enough, they said.

“The Lausunge initiated a debate and awareness,” they said. “But given this awareness and numerous expressions of desire for improvement, why is there so little change?”