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2005-09-09
LO Sweden and the employers’ organisation the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise have come to an agreement concerning a joint recommendation regulating how foreign companies bringing their own labour to Sweden should be treated in Sweden.
At a press conference on August 30, 2005, Jan-Peter Duker, Deputy Managing Director of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and Erland Olauson, the Negotiating Secretary and First Vice President of LO Sweden, presented the results of the negotiations between The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and LO Sweden that have been conducted since February 7 with the aim of achieving a recommendation.
- This is a recommendation implying that affiliates of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) shall reach an agreement on what parts of the sectoral agreements on national level should apply to the foreign companies performing work in Sweden, says Erland Olauson, LO Sweden’s Negotiating Secretary and First Vice President.
Equal treatment
The agreements of the affiliates shall be formulated with the purpose to achieve equal treatment of companies and workers concerning wages, working hours and other work conditions.
The agreement reached by LO Sweden and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise is a victory for the Swedish model, states Erland Olauson.
- All the time we have claimed that Swedish collective agreements are to be applied in Sweden. Now we have agreed that foreign companies performing work in Sweden should be integrated in the Swedish system.
- It is also a victory that the industrial relations’ system has been successful in solving a difficult problem.
The introduction to the signed agreement reads as follows:
The Swedish economy and labour market are - to an ever increasing extent – being affected by escalating internationalisation and globalisation. The enhancing integration within and enlargement of the European Union clearly demonstrate this development. For posting of workers in another EU/EES country there is the Directive on Posting of Workers (96/71/EG), which is implemented in Sweden by the Foreign Posting of Employees Act (1999:678).
It happens to a greater extent that companies perform temporary work in another country, for example foreign companies carry on activities for a short period of time in Sweden. This has led to the fact that foreign companies – to a greater extent – apply for a temporary membership in an employer organisation within the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and LO Sweden agreed on February 7, 2005, to try to establish principles and bases for what should apply with regard to sectoral agreements signed on national level for foreign employers who become temporary members in an employer organisation within the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. The aim is to create enhanced possibilities for mobility of services to Sweden as well as equal treatment of workers and companies in the Swedish labour market. This is put into practice by recommending all the affiliates to – in all respects concerned – adjust their collective agreements, in compliance with the above.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and LO Sweden have taken it as their principle that sectoral agreements must be able to provide well-functioning solutions also in cases when companies carry on temporary activities in Sweden. It is urgent that companies should carry on their analysis on this basis and that necessary adjustments of agreements should be made in accordance with this recommendation.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and LO Sweden recommend their affiliates to immediately launch discussions on adjustments of their agreements for companies which become temporary members in an employer organisation within the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. It requires that the organisations conclude their talks on October 31, 2005, at the latest, and that disputes are avoided during this time on the issues being discussed. This recommendation does not apply to companies which are otherwise bound by collective agreements for work in Sweden.
In case a foreign company comes to Sweden with its own labour in order to perform work and chooses not to apply for a temporary membership in the concerned employer organisation within the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the Swedish trade unions do not have any other choice but to demand negotiations with the company in question and, if necessary, by means of industrial action, try to bring about a collective agreement.
LO Sweden and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise reached an agreement concerning foreign companies
LO Sweden and the employers’ organisation the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise have come to an agreement concerning a joint recommendation regulating how foreign companies bringing their own labour to Sweden should be treated in Sweden.
At a press conference on August 30, 2005, Jan-Peter Duker, Deputy Managing Director of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and Erland Olauson, the Negotiating Secretary and First Vice President of LO Sweden, presented the results of the negotiations between The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and LO Sweden that have been conducted since February 7 with the aim of achieving a recommendation.
- This is a recommendation implying that affiliates of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) shall reach an agreement on what parts of the sectoral agreements on national level should apply to the foreign companies performing work in Sweden, says Erland Olauson, LO Sweden’s Negotiating Secretary and First Vice President.
Equal treatment
The agreements of the affiliates shall be formulated with the purpose to achieve equal treatment of companies and workers concerning wages, working hours and other work conditions.
The agreement reached by LO Sweden and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise is a victory for the Swedish model, states Erland Olauson.
- All the time we have claimed that Swedish collective agreements are to be applied in Sweden. Now we have agreed that foreign companies performing work in Sweden should be integrated in the Swedish system.
- It is also a victory that the industrial relations’ system has been successful in solving a difficult problem.
The introduction to the signed agreement reads as follows:
The Swedish economy and labour market are - to an ever increasing extent – being affected by escalating internationalisation and globalisation. The enhancing integration within and enlargement of the European Union clearly demonstrate this development. For posting of workers in another EU/EES country there is the Directive on Posting of Workers (96/71/EG), which is implemented in Sweden by the Foreign Posting of Employees Act (1999:678).
It happens to a greater extent that companies perform temporary work in another country, for example foreign companies carry on activities for a short period of time in Sweden. This has led to the fact that foreign companies – to a greater extent – apply for a temporary membership in an employer organisation within the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and LO Sweden agreed on February 7, 2005, to try to establish principles and bases for what should apply with regard to sectoral agreements signed on national level for foreign employers who become temporary members in an employer organisation within the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. The aim is to create enhanced possibilities for mobility of services to Sweden as well as equal treatment of workers and companies in the Swedish labour market. This is put into practice by recommending all the affiliates to – in all respects concerned – adjust their collective agreements, in compliance with the above.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and LO Sweden have taken it as their principle that sectoral agreements must be able to provide well-functioning solutions also in cases when companies carry on temporary activities in Sweden. It is urgent that companies should carry on their analysis on this basis and that necessary adjustments of agreements should be made in accordance with this recommendation.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and LO Sweden recommend their affiliates to immediately launch discussions on adjustments of their agreements for companies which become temporary members in an employer organisation within the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. It requires that the organisations conclude their talks on October 31, 2005, at the latest, and that disputes are avoided during this time on the issues being discussed. This recommendation does not apply to companies which are otherwise bound by collective agreements for work in Sweden.
In case a foreign company comes to Sweden with its own labour in order to perform work and chooses not to apply for a temporary membership in the concerned employer organisation within the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the Swedish trade unions do not have any other choice but to demand negotiations with the company in question and, if necessary, by means of industrial action, try to bring about a collective agreement.
Dela