Rarely has a salary increase been as long-awaited as this year.
But despite the fact that the salaries were ready in April, healthcare workers in several locations only receive the money in November.
– It hits hard, people are stressed, says support assistant Sandra Hjalmarsson in Gothenburg.
The high prices of food, petrol and electricity mean that this year’s salary increase has been unusually welcome for many Swedes. But within the Kommunal trade union, care workers in several locations have to wait until the end of November for the pay rise.
Sandra Hjalmarsson, who works in an assisted living facility in Gothenburg, is one of them.
– It’s about being able to pay your repayments and bills, says Sandra Hjalmarsson.
Takes an unusually long time
For Kommunal’s members, this year’s salary negotiation was completed in April. But the mapping that Kommunal has done among its local departments shows that in several locations it takes an unusually long time before the employees receive the money.
In Piteå, the money will arrive in September. In Luleå in October. And in Gothenburg and Karlstad as late as November.
Unusually comprehensive
In Gothenburg, the reason, according to the head of negotiations, is that it is a comprehensive wage revision in several stages that takes time to implement.
– It is important to do the process in a good way so that you have time for the negotiations, the conversations and the dialogues that should take place. Then the summer comes in between too, says Catarina Blomberg, Head of Negotiations in the City of Gothenburg.
For Sandra Hjalmarsson, a holiday at home now awaits while waiting for the new salary.
– I think a lot of people think about and have to prioritize things away.