The reorganization was discussed at the beginning of the summer and the negotiations ended in disagreement. Discussions are still ongoing about the duties of individual employees.
Merged departments
– Departments have been merged and got one head of department instead of two. Vacant positions have not been filled, but changes have primarily been made for people whose functions have been removed, says Laila Öberg, president of Saco-S.
The community planning function has not been able to downsize, as it has been given more to do through the expanded consultation regime. In addition, there have been more applications to comment on due to the societal transformation in the north.
Language, culture and IT
Instead, the biggest savings have been made in the areas of language and culture. Major cutbacks are also being implemented on the IT side.
– Above all, we are critical of the cuts in the IT area, because development there has always been de-prioritized. Examples are the backlog of reindeer husbandry statistics and the fact that we still handle applications in the cultural area on paper, says Marie Enoksson, ST.
Staff and the public
The union believes that both the staff and the public will be affected by the lean organization.
– I see a risk of work-related ill-health and more stress and a worse working environment. It can take longer to get an answer and we simply have to say no to certain tasks and requests, if they are not explicitly part of our mission, says Marie Enoksson.
Staff fleeing the authority
In a letter to the employer, the unions warned this spring that the cuts risk leading to a brain drain, as employees look for new jobs. The fears have come true, says Marie Enoksson.
– Two people have quit, one has retired and another two have resigned, she says.
The manager shares the risk assessment
The Sámi Parliament’s chancellor Lars-Ove Sjaan hopes the defections are not due to the cuts, but would have happened anyway.
– We agree on the risk assessment that we made with the safety representatives and that we shared with the unions. We have pointed to the same risks, and our big challenge now is to minimize the risk. It’s about priorities and opting out, he says.
In the clip below, the head of the chancellery Lars-Ove Sågån develops his thoughts on the Sami Parliament’s new organization.
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The head of the office, Lars-Ove Sjaan, states in the clip that the poor economy has forced the reorganization, where the State Office’s criticism of poor governance has also been taken into account. Photo: SVT