dc.contributor.author | Johnston, Thomas L. | en |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-05-22T12:43:13Z | |
dc.date.available | 2018-05-22T12:43:13Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1955 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/30325 | |
dc.description.abstract | | en |
dc.description.abstract | The generaI background to this study is the interest in Sweden
and Swedish economic theory and economic policy which was awakened
in me during my undergraduate years of study in the University of
Edinburgh. It was with a general interest in industrial affairs
in that country that I originally went there in September, 1951,
to study industrial conditions and policies * Soon, however, as my
knowledge of the language improved , I found myself following the
wages negotiations of December, 1951 - January, 1952 with some interest,
particularly when 1 learned that it was proving possible for the
Swedish Employers' Confederation and the Confederation of Swedish
Trade Unions to arrive at a central and voluntary agreement for wages
increases for 1952 which their member federations seemed willing to
accept and follow. This seemed significant. ./as it the case, as
with Lear, that: | en |
dc.description.abstract | I will do such things, -
What they are yet I know not, - but they shall be
The terror of the earth. | en |
dc.description.abstract | Or had the Swedes a comprehensive wages policy? .-/as full
employment in a free society with free collective "bargaining being
achieved ? | en |
dc.description.abstract | This thesis is in part an attempt to answer these questions.
On the surface it would seem that order prevails on the Swedish
labour market. It is not, however, the task of the impartial
investigator to accept this surface impression, which one obtains
from the information and propaganda put out by the interest groups in
Sweden. The approach cannot be an "ail's well" one. Rather must we
be concerned to dig down into the past and consider the background.
IF order reigns, why is this the case? What historical developments
lie behind the apparent order? In response to such questions, the
emphasis is placed on historical development, and development through
discussion of different solutions and unacceptable ends ant means. A
free society excludes certain ends and means in its attempt to order
industrial relations aright and acceptable ends and means are the
product of development. A t the risk of being tedious I am concerned
to show that the present system of labour relations in Sweden did not,
like Topsy, simply grow, but that it is the product of empirical
discussion and trial by battle,and that Swedish, industrial relations
only stand where they do today because difficulties have had to be
overcome and problems solved ae the labour market- organisations grew
in power and strength. Thus it is an analysis in depth. | en |
dc.description.abstract | In the analysis emphasis will be placed on the structure of
the organisations and their aims and goals, and on the manner in which
they function both in their internal and external operations. The
object is to present a comprehensive picture of the labour market,
and in this respect the analysis is much wider than that usually
presented by writers, Swedish and others, on labour market problems in
that country. Some attention is devoted to a comparatively neglected
group, the salaried employees, and to state and local authority spheres
of activity, as well as to the more "popular" and well known private
sector of the economy. Different forms of employment are discussed. | en |
dc.description.abstract | The aim throughout is to lead up through a comprehensive approach
to the present nexus of relationships that find their central focus
in the collective agreement and in the wages policies pursued by the
different groups, No consistent attempt is made to draw international
comparisons, because of the dynamism of the Swedish system itself.
Industrial relations are never a matter of static analysis. It would of
course be idle to deny that Sweden has seen a vacuum in these matters,
that she has not assimilated ideas and impulses from abroad. Because
of her comparative remoteness and little known language she has been
a receiver rather than a transmitter of ideas, e.g., from Britain
and, more particularly, from Germany, Denmark and Norway. No priority
is claimed for Sweden in any of the successful arrangements she may
have made, and no case is made out for trying to adapt her institutional
arrangements to other countries and types of economy; for what
emerges is that the peculiar Swedish contribution is adaptation of
ideas to suit her own institutional and environmental circumstances. | en |
dc.description.abstract | Because of the language difficulty and the inaccessibility
of sources to many readers it has been considered advisable to present
the content of some debate® and problems in some detail, and to
avoid the condensation of material that the interests of brevity
would applaud but the requirements of clarity and scholarship would
condemn. | en |
dc.description.abstract | The argument is conducted in the following sequence. Part. 1
deals with the organisations, their development, structure and
functioning. In Chapter 1 the general economic background to the
industrial society is set out. Chapter 11 deals with the growth
and development oi the manual workers' trade union movement, and an
appendix to this chapter considers the relations between the movement and the social democratic party in the twentieth century. Chapter 111
discusses the employers' organisations, the history and development
of SAF and rival bodies, and the early emphasis within $AF on byelaws
that ensured centralisation of control. Other employer groups are
also discussed. In chapter IV the growth and significance of a trade
union movement among salaried employees is discussed. The remaining
chapters of dart 1, chapters V to Vll, then deal with specific
problems of the manual workers' trade union movement. Chapter V
discusses the structure of the federations within LO and the layers
of organisation in the movement. Chapter VI analyses the constitutional
problems of 10, and the solutions that have lean attempted in the
centralisation of powers through bye law amendments, while in chapter
Vll the trend to industrial trade unionism in the structure of the
movement is traced. | en |
dc.description.abstract | In part II the re rations of the labour market organisations to
the state are discussed in the light of legislative proposals
made at various times and the discussion that has centred round thorn.
The regulation in raw of associations is discussed in chapter Vlll.
Chapter IX deals with the right of association and negotiation in
general, while chapter X. discusses this problem in relation tc a
certain group in society, "responsible officials". The growth of
machinery for conciliation and private arbitration is then dealt
with in chapter XI. The debate centring round the issue of
compulsory arbitration for the purpose of enforcing collective agreements is considered in chapter Xll, and the culmination of' the
debate in the two acts of 1928, on collective agreements and a Labour
Court, is described in chapter Xlll. The part ends with a consideration
in chapter XIV of the limitations on direct action and the position
of neutral third parties in the event of labour disputes. | en |
dc.description.abstract | Part III shifts the emphasis from legislation to constructive
co-o oration between the labour market parties, and is almost wholly
concerned with an analysis in chapter XVI of the Basic Agreement of
1938 between LO and SAP and other peace agreements. This is preceded
by a consideration in chapter XV of some of the forces at work which
constituted the background to the Basic Agreement. Part IV follows
on from this, in that it takes up problems that can be seen in a new
light when the parties are prepared to co-operate in a constructive
fashion in the labour market, namely employers' right and workers'
security. Chapter XVII discusses an old hone of contention,
"Paragraph 23" in the byelaws of SAP, while the most recent attempts
at co-operation through the growth of a system of enterprise
councils are considered under the heading of industrial democracy
in chapter XVlll. | en |
dc.description.abstract | The final section, part V, analyses the system at work
as it is reflected in the collective bargaining and wages policies
of the organisations. Chapter XIX. discusses the content of
employment agreements, methods of reaching and interpreting such
agreements are taken up in chapter XX, while chapter XXI looks at
the whole integrated system of relationships and organisations in
the light of the wages policy problems that have "been the centre
of discussion in Swedish .labour market circles since the era of
full employment dawned. Some conclusions are then set out. | en |
dc.publisher | The University of Edinburgh | en |
dc.relation.ispartof | Annexe Thesis Digitisation Project 2018 Block 19 | en |
dc.relation.isreferencedby | | en |
dc.title | Structure and functioning of the Swedish labour market: a study of its development in the light of formative discussion. | en |
dc.type | Thesis or Dissertation | en |
dc.type.qualificationlevel | Doctoral | en |
dc.type.qualificationname | PhD Doctor of Philosophy | en |