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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)



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