Sweden - Majority of companies have no collective agreement - December 31, 2024

A large majority of employees are covered by collective agreements, but the fact is that a majority of companies that have employees have not signed a collective agreement. The explanation is that many large companies with many employees have signed agreements, while even more small companies have not. According to recent research, there are many different reasons for choosing not to sign agreements, but there are three reasons that stand out. First, some companies do not like the Swedish labour market model, because it creates inertia and uniformity. Secondly, some companies are critical of the unions. Thirdly, many small companies think that collective agreements don’t suit them.

Read on: in Swedish…

For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.