The Swedish Model

In most countries, the labour market is regulated entirely by legislation. In Sweden, the labour market is regulated both by laws, which stipulate minimum standards for employment conditions, and by collective agreements that supplement the legislation with additional and better conditions. It is the trade unions and the employers who negotiate the content of collective agreements that regulate matters such as terms and conditions of employment, working time and salaries.

This ensures that Sweden has a flexible labour market with the scope to tailor certain conditions to different industries, companies and individuals, all without the involvement of politicians. This model has worked incredibly well over the past twenty years, in large part because employers and unions solve important issues themselves.

While other countries have experienced difficulty to achieve real income growth, Swedish employees increased their salaries by sixty per cent in the same period. Sweden also has among the lowest numbers of strike days and industrial conflicts in the world.

The Swedish model is built on a foundation of strong unions. Therefore, it is important that you are a union member so that we can continue to develop safe and secure workplaces where you and others can thrive and want to contribute.

Collective agreements are usually time limited. When these agreements expire, the parties renegotiate the terms in a collective bargaining process. Unlike a legislative process, parties can act more swiftly and flexibly, adjusting conditions according to the sector, industry or workplace.

A collective agreement applies to everyone working within a sector or at a workplace covered by the agreement. It sets norms, meaning it must be applied even to employees who are not members of a union, thus stipulating a minimum standard for the conditions, (unless explicitly excluded in the agreement). Therefore, the collective agreement applies to everyone at the workplace, whether they are members of a union or not.

For the Swedish Model to function effectively, a majority of the employees at a workplace need to be members of a trade union. If the union membership rate is low, it becomes challenging for unions to assert their right to represent employees at the workplace, diminishing their bargaining power and legitimacy.

• Collective agreements in Sweden

Saco is the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations and is one of three trade union confederations in Sweden. The other two are LO (the Swedish Trade Union Confederation), which brings together unions for blue-collar workers such as Kommunal and IF Metall, and TCO, which represents trade unions for white-collar employees based on sector, such as Unionen and Vision.

Saco consists of 21 trade unions, of which Akavia is the third largest. Together, Saco unions represent 700,000 university-educated professionals, all of whom strive for better working conditions and employment security for Swedish professionals.

Saco influences public debate through research and by providing facts and statistics for opinion articles and editorials. It also presents and discusses political proposals at seminars and in meetings with decision-makers, in consultation responses and in other contexts where there is scope to influence legislation and other important decisions.

Centrally, Saco’s role is primarily to promote the interests of graduate professionals in social policy-related issues. The Saco unions work with issues relating to pay, equality, inclusion, employment security and other employment conditions, as well as with members’ professional and educational interests.

The terms and conditions for the Swedish labour market can be likened to a cake – with huge scope for variation when it comes to flavours and combinations. The various elements regulating terms and conditions for employees in the Swedish labour market – legislation, central and local collective agreements and individual employment contracts – can be compared to different layers of a cake. For each element you add to your cake, the working conditions are improved and shaped through needs related to your sector, industry, company or organisation, as well as you as an individual. As a member of a trade union, you can influence what kind of cake your workplace will have. You can usually choose the decorations for your own individual slice. The ability to tailor the cake to specific situations and needs is what makes the Swedish Model so unique and successful.