Sweden: Finansförbundet, the banking and finance union, terminates the sector’s collective agreement

Finansförbundet, the banking and finance workers’ union, had been thinking about it for a while.  It made the decision and announced it on September 30, 2013: the union, which represents 29,000 people, terminated the collective agreement binding it to the banking and financial institutions employers’ organization (Bankinstitutens Arbetsgivarorganisationen, BAO) since 2011 and until 2014.  It considers that employers didn’t play the game and particularly didn’t apply the regulations planned in the agreement, notably concerning wage increase and gender equality.  (Ref.  130639)
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Grounds for discontent. The agreement was supposed to apply between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2014 (see article No. 110179). It was signed in pain as the parties had followed the mediators’ recommendations, avoiding a strike notice at the last minute. It only provided for an individual 1-percent increase, with a SEK 300 (€34) limit and a collective 1.8 percent guarantee for 2011. Then, for 2012/14, no individual guarantee was planned but each company committed to increase pay up to

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