c o n t i n u i t y a n d c o n t r ac t 349 example working hours, environment and an extended co-determination for employees’ union organisations.616 The Co-determination Act was passed in1976and replaced the Act on Collective Agreement of 1928.The new act prescribed that the employer had an obligation to initiate negotiations before a decision was made about working conditions. Furthermore it gave the unions a considerable priority right of making an ad hoc interpretation in disputes concerning the implication of collective agreements. In course of time, the union movement, which around 1900 had been considered as an “outsider”, was accepted as a party that could influence the terms of work and promote industrial peace, not only through collective agreements, but also by representation in the labour court.This “double and combined monopolisation” led to the union being the almost exclusive legal channel, through which the worker’s interest cuold be expressed.617 The Co-determination Act in 1976 as well as the Act on Protection of Employment has strengthened this trend. The big organisations work to ensure that the advantages of the agreement accrue to their members, and the members in turn have to go through their organisations to protect their rights. This can be contrasted with, for instance, consumer legislation, in which the legislature has established that the rights of the consumer can be recognised without an intermediary organisation.618 Although the legislation was severely criticised by employers, the Co-determination Act was not aimed at any fundamental transfer of power in the labour market.This also applies to the trends during the 1990s towards greater individualism in labour life. By limiting the employer’s prerogatives, the legislator confirms them. Still the chief rule in Swedish labour law is the same as was accepted in the “December compromise” of 1906. The 616 On this “legislative explosion”, see Edlund 1986 and Fahlbeck 2002, pp. 94-95. 617 Adlercreutz,A1994, p. 183. 618 Malmberg 1997, p. 379; Malmberg 2002, p. 191.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=