Whereas polls are confirming a new a decrease in the center-right government's popularity, and on the eve of the three-year renewal of collective conventions (fall 2007,) the Swedish trade sector's union (Handels,) member of the White Collar confederation TCO has just called upon its members to strike on the eve of the Easter week end. It will be a partial strike, which will only concern 94 companies or workshops for the moment and have an impact on 6,000 employees, but it is the first step to test the balance of power between social partners, as well as the government’s influence. (Ref. 070287)
The concerned companies are quite symbolic in Sweden, notably Ikea, Hennes and Mauritz, Lindex, the Ica Maxi supermarkets and the Åhléns department store (the equivalent of Harrods’s). The blockade of the warehouses of several large businesses, such as Ikea, is also planned.
A branch wage settlement questioned at the cross-industry level at the heart of the disagreement. In reality, unions and the Federation of Trade Employers had signed an agreement planning an important wage increase (from 11
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