November: News from Ingenjören in English
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Lack of employee influence at global companies
According to the Co-Determination Act, MBL, the employer must inform unions and negotiate before important changes. But elected representatives in companies where the management is seated outside Sweden are frustrated. “In practice, the decisions are already made when we are called to negotiate”, they say.
– On paper, there will be negotiations, but not in practice. MBL with the unions has become a formality, says Sofia, a representative of Engineers of Sweden at an industrial company with many thousands of employees globally.
She points out that the legislation is no longer adapted to reality. More and more companies in Sweden are global, with headquarters in other countries. This means that strategic decisions are not made in Sweden.
Are obligated to negotiate
Anders Boström is ombudsman at Engineers of Sweden and has extensive experience in negotiations and supporting Akademikerföreningar in the industry. He recognizes the problems that the elected representatives are talking about.
– Unfortunately, employees often lose influence when the head office is not in Sweden.
But he also points out that the Swedish management has an obligation to negotiate with the unions, for example in the event of reorganizations that result in employees being laid off. The management must give the management in Sweden a mandate to negotiate.
– If the unions have not been allowed to submit proposals and comments before a decision is made, it is an MBL violation and Engineers of Sweden can call for negotiations.
Other ways of influencing
Anders Boström points out two important forums for union representatives in international companies – group boards and European works councils, known as EWC.
– In the EWCs representatives usually have greater opportunities to influence decisions than in the local unions in the workplaces.
Employees can also gain insight into and influence over operations through Swedish company and boards. In the private sector, employees at companies with collective agreements and more than 25 employees have the right to have employee representatives on the Swedish company board.
Sofia believes in stronger legislation. But she also sees a risk that it would discourage companies from investing in operations in Sweden.
– It’s a difficult balancing act. Should we fight for our right to influence or risk jobs in Sweden? I still weigh in favor of legislation that requires foreign employers to negotiate decisions that affect Sweden. Then the Swedish leadership cannot hide behind the global leadership.
What is MBL?
MBL, The Co-determination Act, is a Swedish law which regulates the relationship between employer and employee. The aim is to increase employee involvement and opportunity to influence the workplace.
The primary negotiation right, regulated in §11, means that employers bound by a collective agreement are obliged to initiate negotiations with the employee organization to which the collective agreement is bound before a decision is made about a significant change. That can be for example termination due to operational reasons, reorganizations, appointment of a manager or new working hours.
Read the entire article in Swedish: Sämre inflytande för anställda på globala företag
Companies are taking action to avoid reduction in working hours
Earlier this year, reduced working hours were introduced in the collective agreements for service companies, such as consulting and tech companies. But some employers are now taking actions to avoid the reduction.
From 2026, employees at service companies will receive one (1) day of reduced working hours – something that Engineers of Sweden wants to gradually increase to reach the same level as in the industry.
But within the employer organization Almega, where many technical consulting companies are members, employers are now taking actions to increase working hours, contrary to what was intended.
– Our members and elected representatives reports that employers are calling for negotiations to reduce or remove working hours reductions that are already in place. Almega has also arranged webinars with focus on how to act to circumvent the purpose of the agreements. We find this unacceptable, says Camilla Frankelius, head of negotiations at Engineers of Sweden.
Squeeze days and new employment contracts
The changes that companies are introducing may involve working hours that earlier applied for everyone, for example 39 hours a week instead of 40. Or that they have half-days off or squeeze days that are not in central collective agreements. Now, employers want to withdraw these benefits.
How easy it is to implement the changes depends on how they first were introduced. If the employer itself has introduced shorter working hours, the decision to withdraw it must still be negotiated with the MBL – meaning that the employees must be listened to first.
If it concerns terms in a local collective agreement, the employer needs to renegotiate the agreement or terminate it. Changes made to individual employees’ employment contracts also need to be negotiated with the unions involved.
“It surprised us”
There are members who are disappointed with Engineers of Sweden and believe that they should not have pushed through a reduction in working hours now that it has resulted in a deterioration in some cases.
– I understand that members and elected representatives are upset, and we share that upset. But it is important to direct the upset towards the employer. We had foreseen that it would be a bit chaotic within Almega’s areas, but that they would circumvent the agreement in this way surprised us.
Read the entire article in Swedish: Företag agerar för att runda arbetstidsförkortningen
Six steps to raise your salary as a specialist
The salary gap between managers and specialists is increasing. One reason is that specialists often lack clear career paths. But there are things specialists can do to increase their salary.
Maja Lok is a senior HR specialist in salary and rewards, with over 20 years of experience from different companies and industries.
These are her tips:
- Change employers regularly. Mainly to learn new things and develop your specialist skills. Each job both broadens and deepens your skills. But also to ”pressure test” and have an opportunity to adjust your salary to the market.
- Develop and deepen your specialist knowledge in areas that are important to the company.
- Make sure you reach the goals that you and your manager have agreed on. Show that you want to develop and take on more responsibility.
- Make sure that you, in development and salary discussions, show concrete examples of how you have deepened and developed your skills and taken on greater responsibility.
- It is also important that you talk to your manager about how you can enable future salary development. If you cannot get a higher salary in your current role, what could be the next step?
- Look for new projects or roles where you as a specialist will have greater responsibility. Make sure that the salary is reviewed in connection with this.
Read the entire article in Swedish: Löneexperten: Så kan specialister påverka sin lön
The union at Volvo Cars: “Tough negotiations and a lot of emotions”
At the end of April, Volvo Cars announced a significant workforce reduction, 3,000 jobs globally and around 1,200 in Sweden. Now, when the negotiations are finished, 1,000 white-collar employees in Sweden are leaving the company.
– Of these, approximately 500 have left voluntarily, says Kristina Tullgren, chair of Akademikerföreningen at Volvo Cars.
The cutbacks at Volvo Cars are made in most parts of the company. The negotiations between the local unions and the company have taken place in three stages. Firstly, the new organization was negotiated, i.e. where the cutbacks would take place.
In the second stage, which was completed just before the summer holidays, the new organization was staffed.
At the end of August, all white-collar employees at Volvo Cars received a preliminary notice of whether they would be allowed to stay or be laid off due to a shortage of work. The negotiations then entered the third stage, which has also been the toughest. Every member who was provisionally terminated has received a second assessment.
– We have really challenged the company to be able to save as many members as possible, says Kristina Tullgren.
During the negotiations, Akademikerföreningen has been extremely careful not to deviate from what is stated in LAS. The two factors that determine who has priority are length of employment and sufficient qualifications.
The new organization at Volvo Cars came into effect on the 1st of November.
Read the entire article in Swedish: Akademikerna på Volvo Cars: ”Tuffa förhandlingar och mycket känslor”
More to read in English
All articles in Ingenjören that have been translated into English
The guide from Ingenjören in English (magazine from 2024) – About Engineers of Sweden and the Swedish labour market model
Information in English from Engineers of Sweden (including button for Google Translate-version of the entire Engineers of Sweden website)
