Tromsø Mayor’s Clear Message: Disabled Should Not Be Penalized for Using Work Ability

TROMSØ (VG) Disability benefit recipients should not be penalized for using the work ability they have left. That is the Tromsø mayor’s clear message to the Labor Party before the national meeting.

Ørjan Sandberg is disabled – and deputy to the municipal council in Tromsø. Now he is standing for election again – and hopes for a permanent place in the municipal council.

Sandberg is praised by Tromsø’s mayor, Gunnar Wilhelmsen, as an important conversational partner when he has to make decisions.

– I feel that I contribute with other perspectives – and that I am heard. It means a lot to me, says Sandberg to VG.

But Sandberg’s commitment comes with a price.

Sandberg receives 262,000 from the state in disability benefits before tax. As an elected representative, he received 63,000 last year for attending committee meetings and municipal council meetings.

It is NOK 19,000 above the “free limit” on what he can earn without being cut off – which led to his disability benefit being cut by NOK 13,000. He is thus left with NOK 6,000 of the NOK 19,000 above the “free limit” – before he has paid tax on the amount.

– It is tougher taxation than top tax. How reasonable is that?, asks Ørjan Sandberg.

– Better Life

Gunnar Wilhelmsen believes that disabled people lose the motivation to use their ability to work – if they risk having barely any of their income left.

– Work gives people a better life. It creates pride to contribute. Then it cannot be the case that those who have some ability to work and can contribute should be left with so little, says Wilhelmsen.

He is very happy to have Sandberg with him in the Labor Party and the municipal council.

– Ørjan has the temperature of those who have little, and has good input and experience which means that we make better decisions. We need Ørjan, and those like him, to discuss with.

Theme: – Don’t fuck!

The dispute over the “work line” is one of the biggest issues of conflict at Ap’s national meeting. Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre made it clear where he stands in his national assembly speech on Thursday:

– Don’t mess with the work line! Støre said firmly.

At the same time, Støre opened up to looking at all social security schemes and emphasized that those who cannot work must have good enough schemes.

Dreaming of Friday steak

Both Sandberg and Wilhelmsen believe that basic benefits for people with disability benefits should be increased, and that people who are unable to work should be trapped in poverty.

– But if you have a residual ability to work when you are on disability benefits, then we must make it possible for it to be used, not create obstacles for it. It is a responsibility we in the Labor Party have to take, says Wilhelmsen.

Sandberg says that he can feel the stigma attached to being on disability benefits.

– I am done being ashamed of being on disability benefits. But it can still sting when I hear someone talk about “parasites”. Therefore, it gives me a lot to contribute.

Sandberg has been on disability benefits for over 20 years, due to back pain. For him, the office in the municipal council provides far more than income.

– You feel somewhat useful. It feels like a heavy responsibility. But also honorable to be an ombudsman for the citizens. It gives me a lot, he says.

And if Sandberg had received more money for his efforts, he has no doubt what they would have spent on.

– It would have been nice to be able to afford a Friday steak once in a while, he says.