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DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT

(Also referred to by the acronym UVA.) A basic agreement concluded in 1982 between SAF, LO and PTK which also constitutes a participation agreement. The Agreement is short and couched in very general terms. It opens with a declaration of shared values: development, business efficiency, competitiveness and receptiveness to change are watchwords, as is also the need to develop practical and flexible forms of employee participation within the company. It then moves on to treat, almost in discussion form, matters such as conditions for implementing participation, the organization of work, technological development, and company economic performance and financing. A concluding section contains the Agreement's only really concrete rule: union members are given the right to a maximum of five hours' paid working time a year to attend union meetings on issues relevant to the particular workplace concerned (see union information). The employee side is also given the right to enlist the services of an independent expert at the employer's expense in certain situations. The Development Agreement received an enthusiastic welcome when it was signed, but it is probably fair to say that it is not of any really great importance in practical terms. See also Industry Agreement, Saltsjöbaden Agreement, union activities in corporate groups.)

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