There is no need to panic. Calm can solve the reading question.

10/28/2020 Business



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Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S).Image: Jessica Gow / TT

This is the lead editor of the newspaper. Sydsvenskan’s attitude is independently liberal.

Monday was the last day to comment on the government’s controversial investigation into modernizing labor law. Now we have to solve the question of changes in the employment protection law, read. The opinions of the advisory bodies make it clear how complex this can be.

The social partners broadly adopt the positions to be expected. Employers welcome the extended exemptions from the redundancy priority rules, but reject the proposal on the right to skill development. The latter is welcomed at the same time by some unions, although several saw the entire investigation.

But on one point the parties agree: if the labor legislation is to “adapt to the current labor market”, as it is called in the January agreement between S, MP, C and L, then it should be carried out through free negotiations. between employers and unions. And if they manage to reach an agreement, it will be their agreement and not the research proposal that becomes a new law. But at least officially, the negotiating position is blocked. There is much more than the parties have reason to regret.

Several more important and independent advisory bodies warn of complications if the proposed agreement becomes law. Both Umeå University and the National Institute for Economic Research, KI, see, for example, a risk of exclusion of older workers. Therefore, KI believes that it is necessary to extend unemployment insurance for this group. And it may be necessary so that the new legislation does not go against the ambition that more people work higher in the years.

Lund University, in turn, emphasizes that the research guidelines have been too narrow. This is also the opinion of the Labor Court, which also points out that the right to develop competences, at least from a legal point of view, is far from crystal clear.

In other words, if the government is to continue with the research proposal, it will need to be adjusted, supplemented, and clarified for the legislation to be good. To make matters worse, this delicate task must be solved without provoking a government crisis.

The Left Party threatens a vote of no confidence if the government implements the proposal. At the same time, the January agreement, on which the government document is based, it is very clear that what is applied is the research proposal or an agreement of the parties. Since the unions and employers have not agreed, it may seem that Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) can only choose between two crisis alternatives. But luckily it’s not too bad.

After all, by the middle of the month, a proposal for a new major deal was ready for signature at the parties’ table. Employers at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprises and salaried employees of PTK were ready to take the pens away; it was LO who said no after meeting the board.

Of course, it remains to be seen how much a deal that two out of three will accept may be worth. But at least the situation is not hopeless. According to information from Svenska Dagbladet of the Swedish Business Confederation and PTK now, in contact with the parliamentary parties, talks about going ahead with the deal. And nothing prevents individual LO unions from entering into separate agreements with their counterparts. In practice, they could take the back road to settlement. IF Metall has already shown interest in this and more of those involved are now learning to sit down and review the alternatives again. At best, short-term payoffs lead to cultivating the blocked position.

There are many reasons for trying to preserve the model in which major labor market issues are decided in free negotiations between unions and employers. At the same time, it is clear that there is a need to modernize labor market legislation. With proper political management, it doesn’t have to be impossible to do both.

With the responses to the inquiry in place, the preparation of the case at the Government Offices is now beginning. Stefan Löfven promises not to worry about:

“We are not in a hurry, we must do it responsibly.”

Then have more reason to think. Because if everyone involved takes it easy, the reading question can still be resolved.

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