Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - V. Social Movements - 1. Labour Questions and Social politics - Conciliation and Arbitration in Labour Disputes. By H. Elmquist
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
<350
v. social movements.
had been established in connection with communal labour and public
utility-enterprises and was on the way to set on foot the same conditions as prevail
in the railway world respecting the prevention of disputes, but that in the
autumn of 1008 a conflict arose in Malmö between the commune %and its
employees, which along with the breaches of agreements in connection with the
General Strike of 1909 put a stop to that development.
In conclusion, the circumstance may be noted that the Government, in
intervening to bring the General Strike to an end, laid it upon the specially
appointed Conciliators that they were to seek by all the means in their power to
bring about a basis of agreement between the principal organizations of the
two parties in conflict with each other, employers and employees, viz. the
General Federation of Swedish Employers and the General Federation of Swedish
Trade Unions, of such a character and scope that "disturbing interruptions in
the labour world, due to stoppages of work, may as far as in any way feasible
be obviated for the future". The proposals, however, that were framed for a
course of action to that end led to no result.
Legislation. As early as 1887 a proposition was brought before the
Riksdag by a private member for setting up under legal sanction an
organization regarding arbitration in labour conflicts. Both that and
other later proposals of the same tenor were, however, rejected. Not
until 1899 did the Riksdag come to the decision that it was desirable
that the Government should be urged to institute an inquiry and bring
in proposals concerning the establishing of conciliation and arbitration
boards for settling conflicts of interests between employers and workmen
that threaten to cause cessation of work. In the year named the
Government appointed a Royal Commission to carry out the inquiry, and their
findings, which were ready by the year 1901, embodied a proposed decree
respecting intervention in labour conflicts (both those arising from
conflicting interests and those due to a disputed interpretation of agreements
in force).
The proposal was laid before the Riksdag in the 1903 session, but was
rejected; a body of experts, specially qualified for dealing with the
question, then revised the proposal, after which it was passed by the
Riksdag, session 1906. On the ’31st of December, 1906, the Intervention in
Labour Conflicts Act was promulgated and Instructions for Conciliators
were issued; furthermore Conciliators were nominated for each of the seven
districts into which the country was divided for the purposes of the Act.
The Act (§ 1) defines the functions of the Conciliator as being: "to seek to
settle disputes between employers and employees, dissension among employers
and between different groups of workmen, whenever such differences have any
bearing or exercise any influence upon the labour conditions of the district".
No distinction is made, consequently, between disputes arising from conflicting
interests and those due to the different interpretation of existing agreements;
the Conciliator is to deal with disputes of both categories. Of the two it is
naturally the former that, as constituting the greater menace to the preservation
of social amity, more essentially calls for the exercise of intervention. It is
laid down in the Act (§ 2) that the Conciliator is to "be ready, if applied to,
to supply employers and employees with information and advice respecting
agreements affecting the labour problem that are calculated to improve the relation-
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
