Many people who have acquired their professional skills in other countries have difficulties in finding employment in Sweden. This is partly because Swedish employers do not know what value to place on certificates from foreign upper-secondary schools or foreign work experience. Early in 1998, the
Shortly before Christmas 1998, talks on a "pact for growth" (tillväxtallians) between the Swedish Employers' Association (Svenska Arbetsgivareföreningen, SAF) and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen, LO), the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (Tjänstemännens
According to calculations made in December 1998, the economic growth rate was 2.8% and average annual inflation measured by the EU Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices was 1.1%. Unemployment figures continued to decrease, and the EU harmonised unemployment rate for Sweden fell from 9.1% in December
On 20 November 1998, negotiations between the Union of Theatrical Employees (Teaterförbundet, STF) and the Association of Swedish Theatres and Orchestras (Teatrarnas Riksförbund) on pay and general terms of employment at state-subsidised theatres broke down.
At the end of 1997, the collective agreement on wages and general terms of employment between the Swedish Union of Clerical and Technical Employees in Industry (Svenska Industritjänstemannaförbundet, SIF) and the association which represents the small number of employers in public service
In 1997, the Swedish government appointed a committee charged with the task of proposing measures leading to an improved system of pay determination, whereby public mediators would be given improved opportunities to promote "overall public interests" in negotiations. The committee's terms of
In late September 1998, the large Swedish energy group Vattenfall announced that 1,000 of its 8,000 employees would have to be made redundant before the year 2000. The oldest employees would be offered early retirement, while others were to take part in training to prepare them for new tasks in the
In the 1998 bargaining round, the social partners in many sectors in Sweden agreed gradually to reduce working time by an average of 2.5 hours a week (SE9806190F [1]). The issue of a general cut in working time is, however, still on the agenda. One argument for such a reduction, put forward
Early in November 1998, Swedish media reported that metalworkers made redundant by the ball-bearing manufacturing company SKF in Gothenburg were to work for Volvo Cars, which was short of labour. Two weeks later, the management of the Volvo group announced that it planned redundancies for 5,300
On 23 October 1998, the Swedish Employers' Confederation (Svenska Arbetsgivareföreningen, SAF) and the three main trade union confederations - the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen, LO), the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (Tjänstemännens Centralorganisation, TCO