Saltsjöbaden Agreement
Signing of the Saltsjöbaden Agreement. August Lindberg of LO sitting to the left and Sigfrid Edström of SAF sitting to the right.
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| Type | labour market-political agreement |
|---|---|
| Signed | 20 December 1938 |
| Location | Saltsjöbaden, Sweden |
| Original signatories |
Swedish Trade Union Confederation Swedish Employers Association |
| Language | Swedish |
The Saltsjöbaden Agreement (Swedish: Saltsjöbadsavtalet) is a Swedish labour market treaty signed between the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Swedish: Landsorganisationen) and the Swedish Employers Association (Swedish: Svenska arbetsgivareföreningen) on 20 December 1938, that became a model for other agreements. The rules on industrial action has come to be regarded almost as general legal principles of conflicts between the labor market forces. The agreement cemented the Swedish social norm that the two sides shall conclude agreements without interference by government. The agreement is still in effect, with the latest changes being made in 1976.
In 2007, the LO, the Council for Negotiation and Co-operation (sv. Privattjänstemannakartellen, PTK) and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (a successor organisation to the Swedish Employers Association) began negotiations towards a new agreement at the initiative of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. The negotiations, however, were suspended in March 2009.
Since the Swedish General Strike of 1909 the labour market had been characterised by unregulated conflict, with the SAF and LO as the main actors. A restrictive legal framework was discussed, but was met with critique both from the SAF and LO. After the Social democratic government's bill was rejected in parliament in 1935, negotiations started between the SAF and LO, which resulted in the Saltsjöbaden Agreement in 1938. Especially the chapters on industrial action were based largely on the previous proposals.
To implement the Saltsjöbaden Agreement the LO had to change their statutes. The new statutes included authorizing the secretariat to suspend conflict aid to a member union who refuses to approve the secretariat's proposals for settlement. The secretariat may also prohibit a strike if it covers more than three percent of the members of a member union, or if it is in danger of becoming so large through lockout. member unions of the LO were also required to have a provision in their statutes empowering the board of the confederation to decide on issues of contract and industrial action, even against members expressed desire.
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