The Saltsjobaden (Basic) Agreement, 1938
Yonatan Reshef
School of Business
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2R6 CANADA
What it was:
- An agreement between S.A.F. (employers' association) and L.O.
(the major federation of blue-collar unions) that established the basis for the Swedish
Model
- It was created to avoid labor legislation
- It established rules to be observed in the event of dismissals
and redundancies
The parties agreed
to:
- avoid disrupting the functioning of society
- substitute mutual cooperation for strikes and lockouts
- establish procedures for peaceful settlement of industrial
conflicts
- establish a labor market council that would deal with:
- disputes that threaten essential public services
- disagreements over terms of new contracts
Results of the Basic Agreement:
does not cover white-collar workers
L.O. wins unconditional acceptance by management
Allows secondary boycotts and sympathetic action to remain
permissible (essential to a central bargaining system)
L.O. maintains control over the "strike weapon"
Signing the Basic Agreement (Click for picture)
