Since the late 1990s, unions and employers in industry have set the “mark” for the rest of the labour market.
The five major industry unions - IF Metall, Unionen, Sveriges Ingenjörer, GS and Livs - will present their joint wage demand today ahead of the 2027 bargaining round.
The current agreement, which provides for wage increases of 6.4 per cent over two years, expires on 31 March 2027.
“To ensure the competitiveness of Swedish industry, we need to reduce the rate of wage increases going forward,” said Per Hidesten, CEO of Industriarbetsgivarna, which represents Swedish heavy industry, earlier this autumn.
The white-collar union Unionen, on the other hand, believes wage increases of roughly the same size as in the previous bargaining round are possible.
“The conditions are fairly similar,” Unionen’s chief negotiator, Martin Wästfelt, previously told TT.
A recurring sticking point is working hours. The unions continue to call for shorter working hours, while employers say the issue cannot be pursued any further without affecting production.
“We will continue our journey towards shorter working hours,” Wästfelt said a few weeks ago.
According to the Swedish National Mediation Office, more than 500 collective agreements are to be negotiated in the upcoming bargaining round, affecting more than 3.4 million employees - just over two-thirds in the private sector and the rest in the public sector.
The industry unions will present their figures at a press conference at 1 p.m.
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