Saltsjöbaden Agreement

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The agreement of Saltsjöbaden ( Swedish : saltsjöbadsavtalet ) of December 20, 1938 between the Swedish trade union confederation LO ( Landsorganisation i Sverige ) and the Swedish employers' association SAF ( Svenska Arbetsgivareföreningen , today: Confederation of Swedish Entrepreneurs Svenskt Näringsliv ) established the relationship between employers and employees in Sweden on a new basis.

For the previous decades, Sweden was considered a land of conflicts and strikes . It was the country with the most labor disputes in Europe , a situation that many suffered economically. This was to change when the Social Democrats came to power in 1932 . The government forced unions and employers to negotiate constructively. The two central associations agreed to settle collective bargaining issues amicably and thus prevent political intervention. In the Saltsjöbaden Agreement , decisions were not only made on wages, but also, for example, on retirement age or health and safety issues .

The agreement laid the foundation for central collective bargaining under the leadership of the two central associations; an arrangement that lasted until the 1980s and had a lasting impact on industrial relations in Sweden and pacified the Swedish labor market.

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