c o n t i n u i t y a n d c o n t r ac t 279 Kerstin Hesselgren (1872-1962), Sweden’s first woman member of parliament, “political maverick” and later member of the Liberal Party, introduced herself as one of the few non-socialist members of parliament who were going to vote against the proposal. She justified her position by stating that the legal concepts in the area had still not crystallised and that legislation should not be forced.The dangers of waiting that had been presented were exaggerated, the entire work on the legislation was similar to the scare tactics that existed between nations, when in fact the only means for peace was mutual understanding.569 Social Democrats and Communists were critical of the fact that the act was going to confirm the section23 prerogatives including the employer’s right to freely employ and fire people as well as to direct and distribute work. Many critics also rejected talk about the nature of things, established custom and impartial legally trained judges. Not least, it was feared that the academically trained judges would give entirely too much room to the legal disputes that the legislation intended to protect and thus restrict the workers’ liberty of action to strike, for example, in the case of a contested decision about direction of work or dismissals that were regarded as unreasonable. One type of objection that is of special interest for our investigation of the background of the duty of obedience was aimed at the consequences of the cumulative theory. Not least, the critics aimed at the idea that section 23 was an established custom that should now be transformed into coercive legislation. Collective agreements were still developing and they were an expression of a bitter class struggle, which meant that it was far too early to fix their meaning. The fact that the section still occurred in many agreements was seen as an expression of the employers’ misuse of their superior The nature of things and established, accepted customs? 569 FK1928:35, pp. 74-75.
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