No need for the legislator to regulate the supervising of collective agreements

7 November 2005 the Government Commissioner Birgitta Nyström, Professor in Labour Law handed over a Committee Report to the Working Life Minister Hans Karlsson about a possible surveillance of collective agreements. The opinions of the two seem to be the same - there is no need for a legal surveillance.

The Commission started in June 2004 to examine a possible legal surveillance of the observance of the collective agreements. The Special Commissioner Birgitta Nyström, Professor in Labour Law, handed over the Committee Report (SOU 2005:89) to Working Life Minister Hans Karlsson 7 November 2005. The report proposes among other items that a trade union, which has concluded a collective agreement should have the right to receive information from the employer about the employees’ wages and other working conditions in cases where there are reasons to believe that the collective agreement has not been fully applied.

The trade union, having concluded a collective agreement, should also have the right to consultations with the employer about how the agreement concerned has been applied to employees being or having been employed at the company, in cases where the employees are not members of the trade union.

The reason behind the proposed rules is that the Government as the European Union extended was anxious to follow carefully the development in the labour market. Among other things the Government pointed to - in its instructions (D 2004:98) - that it was very important that the surveillance of how the collective agreements were applied was effortful. This was important also in the cases where the employer had concluded collective agreements but did not have any members in Swedish trade unions among the employees.

During the course of the Commission work, arrangements have been signed between the private employers’ Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv) and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen, LO), and between the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and the Federation of Salaried Employees in Industry and Services (Privattjänstemannakartellen, PTK) which to a certain extent are intended to regulate the issue covered by the survey. The Commission thus notes that it is highly doubtful as to whether there is any need at present to further regulate the matter through legislation.

Working Life Minister Hans Karlsson commented the proposals in the Commission report in a press announcement 7 November 2005. In September 2005 the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and LO respective of PTK agreed upon recommendations for their member affiliates regarding regulations for foreign companies temporarily working in Sweden. This agreement shows, according to Hans Karlsson, that the so-called Swedish model where the social partners in cooperation solve problems and create mutual frames functions well. Therefore the proposals of the Commission will not be the basis of new legislation. (SE0509102F).

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