Facts: Some of the more important changes
The new main agreement, which enters into force on 1 October for the unions that have adopted it, can easily be described as employers being able to choose to a greater extent who will quit redundancies, in exchange for employees being given better conditions to retrain.
Education with student support for a maximum of 44 weeks full-time. Conditions: You must have worked for eight years, of which at least twelve months in the last two years. Anyone who can receive support must be between 27 and 62 years old.
The student grant, which is paid by state CSN, amounts to 80 percent of the salary you give up for studying, and is given for a salary of up to SEK 26,625 per month. If your employer is affiliated with the new main agreement, you can receive 80 percent of SEK 32,500 a month.
Education is limited to strengthening you in the labor market and the employer has only limited opportunities to deny you.
At the other end of the contract, employers may exclude three employees, regardless of the size of the company, from the last-in-first-out reading list. If unions and employers have signed the new main agreement, employers may exclude even more from the reading list.
Today, employers may exclude two people, in companies with a maximum of ten employees, from the reading list.
It has been called the Saltsjöbad Agreement 2.0. What better way than to sign at the Grand Hotel in the archipelago idyll, outside Stockholm.
The new main agreement, which among other things regulates terms of employment and adjustment in the event of unemployment, will replace the old Saltsjöbad agreement from 1938, even though the old agreement has been screwed up a lot over the years.
Several LO unions have been very critical throughout the process. Some have turned to become more positive, while some still stubbornly say no (despite LO as an umbrella organization saying yes) on the grounds that employers are given far too free rein to choose who is allowed to go on staff reductions, that the unions sold themselves too cheaply.
Only four yes so far
Four LO unions have so far said yes. These are Kommunal, IF Metall, Pappers and Hotell- och restaurang.
– But then I know that processes are underway in several unions, says LO’s chairman Susanna Gideonsson.
All white-collar unions, on the other hand, are on board, most recently the Swedish Journalists’ Union also said yes. The white-collar cartel The PTK’s chief negotiator Martin Wästfelt respects the fact that opinions are different, but believes that the last-in-first-out principle in the event of cuts does not have the significance that many believe.
– How do the priority issues work in practice in the workplace? Studies have shown that the area of conflict is significantly smaller than what appears in the debate, he says and believes that the reading questions are often characterized by more ideology than reality.
Take advantage of the situation
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise still hopes that all unions will finally hang on, it will make it easier for companies with equal rules for everyone. And it is not impossible, on the contrary, that some of the more militant LO unions intend to use the coming major wage movement to improve the las rules – to fight hard and use the weapon of conflict.
– The reconsideration can then take place in a contractual movement, it can be messy, says Mattias Dahl, chief negotiator at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.
Susanna Gideonsson downplays that risk.
– I do not see that the new main agreement will mess it up.
However, the new agreement may be tested in a new tough situation already in autumn / winter. Many analysts have begun to warn of gloomy economic times in the wake of soaring inflation and rising interest rates that could put companies on the defensive with cuts as a result.
– If that happens, and there are unfortunately some who speak for it. Yes, then the agreement will be tested sharply, says Dahl.
Tough awakening
Then the new main agreement can be a tough awakening for employees who live in the belief that a long period of employment will protect them, as the new dismissal rules are more liberal. On the other hand, no las rules in the world will help if there are abrupt cuts.
– Then it is more important with better adjustment support, says Martin Wästfelt.
Susanna Gideonsson also chooses to see the positive pieces, with better opportunities to adjust in case companies start pulling the savings lever.
– It will be a much more equal law on employment protection (read), she says and refers to a tightening of the rules regarding, above all, fixed-term employment, where women are in the majority.
And according to Mattias Dahl, there are only winners with the new agreement, the employees get better support when the companies get rid of staff, while the companies get a greater opportunity to retain the staff that is considered most important.
May pay
About the critics who think the union has backed down, and that the employers got away too cheaply, says Mattias Dahl:
– I think that is bullshit.
I fully understand that you can have different opinions on the issue, but the agreement is well rooted in a democratic order among all parties involved.
And in some industries, where various forms of general fixed-term employment and other more uncertain forms of employment have been common, employers have had to pay heavily, according to Dahl.
– For them, this will be a very high price, he says and adds that all companies have to pay a higher fee to the security organizations such as TRR and TSL who will help those laid off for new jobs.