On 27 April 2000, the Financial Sector Union of Sweden (Finansförbundet) and the Association of the Swedish Banking Institutions (Bankinstitutens Arbetsgivarorganisation, BAO) concluded a new 21-month sectoral agreement for 34,700 union members in banking. From 1 April 2000, salaries are raised by 1.5 %, or at least SEK 400, per month. This also applies to employees on fixed-term contracts. The actual pay increase for 2000 and 2001 will decided through local negotiations, though the sectoral agreement means a 5.8% overall paybill rise during the period of the agreement. All workers are guaranteed a pay increase of at least 2.8% over the whole period.
In late April 2000, a new collective agreement was concluded for some 35,000 white-collar workers in the Swedish banking sector. The deal provides for an overall paybill increase of 5.8% over 21 months, plus innovative working time provisions.
On 27 April 2000, the Financial Sector Union of Sweden (Finansförbundet) and the Association of the Swedish Banking Institutions (Bankinstitutens Arbetsgivarorganisation, BAO) concluded a new 21-month sectoral agreement for 34,700 union members in banking. From 1 April 2000, salaries are raised by 1.5 %, or at least SEK 400, per month. This also applies to employees on fixed-term contracts. The actual pay increase for 2000 and 2001 will decided through local negotiations, though the sectoral agreement means a 5.8% overall paybill rise during the period of the agreement. All workers are guaranteed a pay increase of at least 2.8% over the whole period.
An innovation in the agreement is that employees and employers may conclude individual local agreements on the organisation of working hours, even if this latter agreement involves deviations from the sectoral agreement. Every local/individual agreement has to be reported to the local union, and the individual member can demand support in the matter from a union representative. A local/individual agreement, it is stated, shall rest upon mutual respect and an understanding of the individual's need for more flexible working hours and of the demands of the employer's activities for more effective and flexible organisation. The agreements on individual working hours will be tried out during the period of validity of the sectoral agreement and then be evaluated by the parties.
The ceiling on permissible overtime work has been lowered from 200 hours per year to 100 hours. The banking business has grown increasingly stressful in recent years, with many branch offices closing down and workers finding themselves with more work to do. The possibility for individual staff to have influence over their own working time and over the amount of overtime are thus seen as positive by the trade union.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2000), New agreement concluded for banking workers, article.
