ARBETARFACKEN OCH EU En kvalitativ studie om spänningarna inom de svenska arbetarfacken

Abstract

Research show that Nordic Trade unions have been skeptical to statutory minimum wages and state regulation for many years now. However, the Swedish transport union,Transportarbetareförbundet, has recently shown openness towards extending collective agreements by law. The willingness to extend the collective agreements by law is based on the assumption that the transport sector is under pressure from European firms dumping wages and working conditions on the Swedish market. The Swedish Industry Union (IF Metall) and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) claims there is too much risk in extending to collective agreements by law. The risk is that it would hurt the social partner’s position on the Swedish labor market and the current system of collective agreements. The results from this study indicate that there is a tension between Transportarbetareförbundet and IF Metall on how to tackle the issue of social dumping. The reasoning behind the union’s positions is explained by different theoretical perspectives on collective action, institutions and path dependency.