Local government, Sweden

(May 2016) Municipal workers' union, Kommunal, has negotiated a new three-year agreement covering the welfare sector that includes a real pay increase for all but a higher pay increase for skilled nurses. This is a key part of the union's strategy to tackle the gender pay gap. In 2016 the basic pay increase will be SEK 520 (EUR 56) while nurses will get SEK 2010 (EUR 110). The agreement also includes provisions to ensure that full-time employment is the norm in the sector. Read more at Kommunal (SV)

An update of a survey by the Kommunal municipal workers' union has revealed differences between private and public eldercare in terms of pay and conditions. On average a full-time municipal worker in eldercare is paid SEK 2300 (EUR 225) more a month than their private counterpart. Private sector workers are also more likely to work part time (72%) and on fixed-term contracts (37%) than municipal workers (61% and 27% respectively). A survey of members also found that private sector workers feel less satisfied with the job and less motivated than municipal workers and while both sets of workers

Municipal workers' union Kommunal has recorded the success it has had in improving the pay and status of assistant nurses. In 2016 and 2017 the union ensured that assistant nurses received a pay increase of SEK 1020 (EUR 97) worth around 4.3% while the overall increase in local government was SEK 520 (EUR 49) worth around 2.2%. Further progress followed in 2017 with SEK 180 (EUR 17) for assistant nurses on top of the general increase of SEK 530 (EUR 50), worth 2.2%.Kommunal notes that the gap between pay for nurses and engineers has closed but that more needs to be done to increase pay in

Municipal workers' union Kommunal has negotiated a new two-year agreement with private care providers which includes general pay increases, additions for low-paid workers and several provisions on working time. The agreement follows the main municipal deal that provided for increases of 2% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019 but in companies where average pay is below SEK 24000 (EUR 2330) a month in 2018 and below SEK 24480 (EUR 2380) in 2019, increases will be implemented as flat-rate amounts of SEK 490 (EUR 47) in 2018 and SEK 563 (EUR 55) in 2019. Assistant nurses will also get an extra 0.5%. Other

(July 2017) Over the past few months, the white-collar union Vision has negotiated 12 collective agreements with the KFS employers' organisation covering municipal companies in different sectors such as care, museums and property services. The agreements are similar and run to 2020. They don't have specific wage increases but individual workers negotiate their pay based on a number of factors including their responsibilities and the performance of the company. As guidance, Vision is looking at increases of 2.2% this year and next and 2.3% in 2019. The agreements also include new provisions on

The Kommunal municipal services trade union has declared a dispute with private companies that provide personal assistants who work with people with disabilities. The collective agreement with the private employers' organisation expired on 30 June and the union has been calling for a pay rise of SEK 535 (€56) a month, in line with other agreements in the sector. So far the employers have offered less than half this amount (SEK 249, €25). Kommunal says this is unacceptable for such an important group of workers and with negotiations stalled the union has said its formal notice of a dispute with

(April 2017) Beginning this month the municipal services union Kommunal will be investigating the employment and working conditions of cleaners, looking at their employment status, working hours as well as health and safety problems. The union will carry out a survey as well as making workplace visits to talk to workers and assess how they are affected by what are often seen as the main problems facing the sector - the impact of privatisation, lack of control over work - but also good examples where workers do have more control over working time and other working conditions.

(June 2017) The Kommunal municipal services union has signed five agreements with municipal companies represented by the KFS employers' organisation. The agreements cover care, consultancies, real estate and business and museums and archaeological activities. They follow the main trend of a 6.5% pay increase spread over three years with the care agreement including additional increases for nurses, as did the main municipal agreement.

The municipal workers' union Kommunal, along with other public service unions, is seeking to negotiate a collective agreement to clarify the conditions that apply to workers dealing with disasters. The union says that last year's forest fires required a massive response from the emergency services, particularly fire and rescue, and there was lack of clarity over how to apply certain rules, particularly those relating to working time and overtime. The union believes that a specific agreement should help and could apply to other groups of workers who may be affected such as those in the health

Local government unions have negotiated a new agreement with the SKR and Sobona employer organisations that will deliver greater employment security for workers. The agreement will take effect on 1 May 2020 and will mean early identification of workers impacted by restructuring and who need training to help assist in gaining new skills and adapting to new jobs. The unions see this as key to avoiding lay-offs and essential for the rapid changes that are taking place in the labour market. Fixed-term workers will be covered by the agreement as will those off sick or going through rehabilitation.

The Kommunal municipal and health services union has set out some of the main demands that it will pursue in the upcoming collective bargaining with municipal employers. The union will aim for a 3% general pay rise with an extra 0.5% to be used at local level for specific groups of vocationally trained workers in health, child and other care. It wants vocationally trained temporary workers to be offered a permanent contract after 12 months and is calling for a number of measures on working time. Among a range of demands, Kommunal wants to ensure full-time work is the norm and argues that the

As reported by the newsletter in March, the municipal workers' union Kommunal has been negotiating a new agreement with the SKL employers' organisation to cover work during major emergencies. This initiative was taken following last summer's spate of forest fires. The agreement was finally signed at the end of June. It provides for an additional 120% of pay for each hour worked during the crisis and there is 150% for emergency overtime. There is a special procedure for determining what counts as a crisis. The agreement replaces the requirements of the Working Hours Act and will apply to all

(April 2017) Municipal workers' union Kommunal has negotiated a year's extension to the three-year agreement which it negotiated last year with the SKL local government employers' organisation. The agreement provided for additional increases for nursing assistants and nurses as part of a strategy to close the gender pay gap. The basic increases in each of the four years 2016-2019 are SEK 520 (EUR 54), 530 (EUR 55), 535 (EUR 55.5) and 540 (EUR 56) while in the first and second years nursing assistants get 1020 (EUR 105) and 710 (EUR 75) while the third year includes 685 (EUR 70) for nurses. The

(January 2017) White-collar union Vision has set out its main bargaining demands in its negotiations with the KFS organisation for local enterprises. The union wants to see competitive salaries and action to improve well-being at work. It also wants employees to be on permanent contracts with employers providing objective justifications for any use of fixed-term contracts of agency staff. Longer paid holidays, individual working time accounts and shorter hours for workers in establishment requiring 24-hour cover are also among the demands.