The wage movement is underway. The Trade Union has got the entire LO behind it in the matter of making it more expensive for employers to hire staff with short notice. This means that all LO unions will be prepared to strike for the Trade Union's cause. Today, it costs nothing extra for companies.
Employers are stubbornly opposed to the union's demands. It will threaten many jobs and stores if it becomes more expensive, is the objection.
More Short-Term Contracts
Does Linda Palmetzhofer foresee a strike ahead of spring?
If it's a conflict issue, I dare not answer now. But it's one of our most important issues.
The conflict issue is not new. The union has made agreements with employers before, but it has mostly been empty words, not much has happened, rather the opposite.
Above all, the short-term contracts have become more frequent, she says.
The average salary, calculated for a full-time employee, is around 29,000 kronor. Recalculated for the actual contracted working hours, the average salary lands at 19,500 kronor, according to the union's calculations based on joint wage statistics.
Below the Line
The union has compared the average salary with the Consumer Agency's guidelines for what is required to afford the necessities, 19,200 kronor per month. To make ends meet, a salary before tax of 23,600 kronor is needed.
The union has recently got the EU Court on its side – two fresh rulings on overtime compensation have established that it is prohibited to discriminate against part-time employees.
Can you use them?
Absolutely. But we need to define what constitutes discrimination. For it's not certain that it just means having the same compensation for hours worked beyond the contract, says Palmetzhofer.
"We have analyzed the current rulings and do not believe that our collective agreements contain discriminatory rules. We parties should stand by our agreed-upon agreements and have no reason to discredit or suspect them", writes Svensk Handel's chief negotiator Ola Axelsson in a comment to TT.
Now, it's far from everyone who wants to work more or have full-time employment. Many students supplement their income with extra jobs. But the union's questions to its members show that of those who worked fewer than 29 hours a week, three out of four wanted to work more.
