Sweden HOW UNIONS SERVE INDUSTRIAL PEACE

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29724, 18 January 1962, Page 12

Sweden HOW UNIONS SERVE INDUSTRIAL PEACE

[By the Stockholm Correspondent of the “Financial Times") (Reprinted by Arrangement)

Sweden has a well-deserved reputation for its freedom from industrial strife, for in the past two decades there have only been two really big strikes, by the metalworkers in 1945 and the food industry in 1953. But this reputation will be subject to some scrutiny in the next few months as negotiations for new wage agreements take place under difficult conditions. It is therefore worth having a look at the union movement to see why its leaders are regarded by most industrialists as reasonable and realistic and why such leaders exercise so much control over their members. A good general impression of the character of the trade union movement is provided by a report recently produced by a group of union economists. The question they set out to consider was what kind of economic policy was necessary to make the structure of the Swedish economy as adaptable as possible to the changes which would be entailed by the pace of technological developments by the new trading groups in Europe and by the economic competition between East and West. Their recommendations were such that one can hardly avoid describing them as, in British terms, conservative. Economic Realism

complete absence of craft unions, the system of compulsory arbitration, th* need for the T.U.C. to approve all industrial wage agreements. But again one has to ask why such a system is accepted. At the shop-floor level there is little interest in union activities, to judge by the numbers voting in local union elections. (But the percentage rises substantially whenever a Communist candidate is proposed, since there is enough interest to keep the Communists out of union power in most parts of the country.) But, of course, the absence of interest is itself some proof that the leaders have been winning adequate increases in real wages.

In the second place there is a great deal of continuity in the leadership. All the top posts in the central organisation and in the unions are held for life, although it is possible to unseat an official in disgrace. In the biggest union, the metal-workers, there have been only three presidents since the end of the war. One retired on reaching pensionable age in 1948. His successor was Mr Arne Geijer, who held the post until 1956. when he was elected president of the T.U.C Constant Propaganda

The essential requirement was greater mobility of all the factors of production, which necessitates lower tariffs, measures to strengthen competition, and measures to stimulate labour mobility. Interest rates should be more flexible. And tax progressivity should be reduced in the lower and medium ranges and replaced by increased indirect taxation. Whatever the value of the details of the report, it shows a high degree of realism about the country’s economic problems. It is not yet the official view of the Swedish T.U.C., but the opinions of its experts carry considerable weight within the movement. If the unions make reasonable demands, it is not difficult to see why there should be so little conflict—provided the leaders have sufficient discipline. The question is rather how they maintain this control. Some parts of the mechanism are well enougn known: the fines on unofficial strikers, the almost

Thirdly, there is a constant propaganda activity conducted by the T.U.C. and by th* unions to inform the members of what they are doing, and to explain their problems. so that the Swedish workers, particularly in the last 10 years or so. have been made to understand that wages cannot outstrip productivity in a country which is so dependent on foreign trade to maintain its standard of living. If the lesson has been learned, it is partly because 33 out of the 191 Swedish daily papers are controlled by the labour movement, and that these papers hold nearly a quarter of the total daily circulation.

Fourthly, the leaders of the movement pay the greatest attention to picking out and grooming their successors. The key to this is the educational activity of the unions. Last year, for example, the T.U.C. and the national unions organised residential courses in union affairs and kindred matters which were attended by 16.000 members. Like the successful Workers’ Educational Association’s study circles, the residential courses provide an opportunity for looking for potential candidates for union office.

On such a basis, and given the fact that most unions are effectively run by a handful of officials whose influence extends even to local union elections, it is possible to ensure a continuity 'in the type of leadership of the whole movement. Indeed, it is said that there is hardly a senior national official in the unions today who was not picked out 25 or 30 years ago by the man who was then director of studies at the T.U.C. It would be difficult to over-emphasise the importance of this centralisation as a method of ensuring industrial peace.