From: Forum
The Art of Legal Misinformation:
How the essential contradictions of Swedish Labour Law
to the Community Law of the European Union are covered up.
The Art of Legal Misinformation:
How the essential contradictions of Swedish Labour Law
to the Community Law of the European Union are covered up.
A report:
When Sweden was going to join the EU, the Swedish Labour Law had to be
adjusted to the rules laid down in the EC- Treaty and several judgements
of the European Court of Justice concerning labour relations. Contrary to
the Labour Law of continental Europe, Swedish Labour Law is not based on
the rights of the individual employee, the working , but presumes
minor subjects without judicial capacity. Legal party is almost entirely
the narrow leadership of each union.
Collective contracts or decisions to go on strike are never legitimated by
democratic decisions or polls of the members. Only approximately 5 % of the
members participate in the elections of their leadership, these often
already being the previous leaders and their close, favoured friends.
Criticism by individual members is effectively suppressed at such meetings
and the union press is controlled by the leadership. On the labour market,
the unions possess a monopoly, e.g. by administrating and controlling the
unemployment funds. Sweden has no unemployment insurance, run by the State.
In cases where individual employees are in conflict with their employers,
the support by the union is dependant on the arbitrariness of its leaders.
They have signed the contracts; the individual member is by procedural law
discriminated. The Labour Court is composed of union leaders and
representatives of the employers association - a typical corporative
construction. While the union leadership can approach the Labour Court
directly, the not supported member must first pass the District Court and
is charged high legal costs. Such members - like unorganised employees -
are from the beginning stigmatised without a reasonable chance of winning
in court. One of the monopolist unions, the syndicate of academicians
SACO, denies its members even the protection against notorious violations
of Human Rights by the State. Members of foreign origin cannot expect
support from a xenophobian leadership. Employees who are not members of
the union are not even entitled to claim the fulfilment of a contract.
Such conditions on the labour market and in the unions favour the
discrimination of minorities, such as persons with foreign origin, women,
dissidents and political nonconformists. In reality, a system of 'closed
shops' with integrated discrimination rules the Swedish labour market.
According to the judgement of 25 April 1996 of the European Court of Human
Rights (Gustafsson/Sweden), the Swedish Government admitted their severe
violation of Community Law namely that employees not being union members
are discriminated in Sweden. The Minister Björn Rosengren - a former
union leader - admitted publicly on 25 February 1999 that
persons merely with foreign names are systematically discriminated on the
labour market.
The systematic salary discrimination of employees with foreign origin is
empirically investigated and proved by sociologist of Stockholm University
(Carl le Grand & Ryszard Szulkin: "Invandrarnas Löner i Sverige",
Arbetsmarknad & Arbetsliv, Nr.2/1999, S.89 - 110).
The Swedish press (DN 11.8.97) mentions an OECD-report, according to which
the employees in Swedish Public Service enjoy the lowest employment
security of all 15 OECD-States. 85 % of the Swedish public servants
against 24 % of the Italian collegues consider their employment as
insecure. This result reflects the ruling arbitrariness in labour relations
and the paltriness of the unions as counterpart to the State as employer.
When negotiating with the EU, the Swedish Government, however, pretended
that those legal conditions against discrimination which are stated by
Community Law and the legal provisions of the other Members States already
are granted by the unions and do not need to be legislated in Sweden.
However, this is obviously not the case.
Simultaneously with the negotiations, the Government introduced into their
Public Service the salary discrimination as a Labour Law principle which
they call fine-spoken . The Public Service covers
about 40 % of all employments. The salary discrimination permits the
superiors to fix salaries of their employees on an arbitrary basis. The
reasons - often libellous - are kept secret in order to prevent the
employee from contesting the discrimination. Its arbitrariness makes the
discrimination versatil, covering not only females and citizens of other
EU-States.
This discrimination system is perfect: By keeping their reasons of
discrimination secret, the Government and their authorities consider
themselves safe and protected from any intervention from the European
Commission for having discriminated women or citizens of other EU-States.
The principle of both I.L.O. and the EU is no
longer applied in Public Service. Because the union leadership had agreed
upon it without asking their members, no defence against secret libel and
the consequent salary discrimination is possible. Non-union members are,
anyhow, denied working contracts and negotiations on their salary. Such a
dictatorial lowering the relative salaries is a disciplinary punishments
without the employee being heard. It is a means to enforce conformity and
surpress criticism.
Obviously for the purpose of creating acceptance for this new , some publications were issued. THREE of the authors(Niklas
Bruun,Anders Kjellberg + Kerstin Ahlberg) are affiliated with the
Government agency 'National Institute of Working Live' NIW. One of them
(Boel Flodgren) is Government appointed President of Lunds University with
dictatorial competence. She is the pioneer in applying the salary
discrimination with secret reasons against critical academic teachers as a
punishment just when her book was published:
Niklas Bruun, Boel Flodgren and Håkan Hydén: , Aldershot Dartmouth, 1992.
Anders Kjellberg: in CHANGING INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN EUROPE, 2nd edition
1998, by Anthony Ferner and Richard Hyman. Blackwell Publishers Ltd,
Oxford. ISBN 0-631-20551-9.
In further a publication, the members of this Government agency advocate
that these collective labour contracts of the monopoly unions with their
salary discrimination of both members and unorganised employees are
declared generally binding EU Labour Law without the discriminated persons
having any judicial remedy to defend themselves. Kerstin Ahlberg, Niklas
Bruun: "KOLLEKTIVAVTAL I EU", Stockholm 1996.
The salary discrimination as the most characteristic achievement of the new
'Swedish Model' in labour relations is not mentioned with one single word
in these publications, spread to European experts in Labour Law. This is no
accident since the authors are well familiar with the new model.
Further precautions were taken to have the new of labour
law accepted by the EU: The former Swedish minister Allan LARSSON is
responsible for the introduction of the salary discrimination as a labour
law principle. The Government managed to get him into the EU-Commission.
Directly under Commissioner Padraig FLYNN, he is as the influential expert
forming the EU's policy in Labour Law. He already both concealed and
quashed without investigation complaints against this violation of
Community Law by his and his Government's invention. Mr. Larsson was
mentioned as the successor to Padraig Flynn.
The salary discrimination obviously violates the principles (art. 100 u.119 Treaty of Rome ). Discrimination
is forbidden. In order to give effect to these provisions, the Council of
Ministers had issued a repeated number of Directives, such as 1612/68/EEC,
75/117/EEC,art.10, 10. February 1975; 76/207/EEC, 79/7/EEC, 86/378/EEC,
86/613/EEC, 91/533/EEC, 14.October 1991 und 92/85/EEC.
However, even the way in which the discrimination is conducted, its secret
reasons and the denial of remedies against it are in conflict with these
binding Directives. They bind any Government to provide the
discriminated employees with effective judicial remedies. The judgement of
the European Court of Justice (case 248/83, Johnston/Chief Constable, 15
MAY 1986, § 18) explains this principle with reference to the European
Convention on Human Rights as the binding base of Community Law.
By obstructing the implementation of these Directives into national law,
the Swedish Government allowed themselves to introduce this salary
discrimination into their entire Public Service . Victims are mostly women
and employees with foreign origin (EU-citizens).
It is the duty of the Commission in accord with arts. 155 and 169 EX
OFFICIO to control the implementation of the Directives into national law.
In his key-position, Mr Allan Larsson, the former responsible minister,
protects his Government from this compulsory implementation from the very
beginning.
Thus, the Swedish Government can just ignore the Directives of the Council
of Ministers for the protection of employees against arbitrary
discrimination in labour relations. The EC-Commission, "Guardian of
Community Law", connives at this violation of Community Law. Thus, the
Commission itself violates articles 155 and 169 of the EEC-Treaty according
to which it has to control the implemention of the Directives into Swedish
Labour Law. The Commission acts as an accomplice.
As a consequence, none of the many victims of discrimination has a chance
of judicially defending herself/himself against discrimination. The
unlawful discrimination is safeguarded completely by a 'denial of justice'
and 'denial of access to court'. Although prohibited, this discrimination
cannot be contested judicially.
The salary discrimination has caused discontent and envy instead of
co-operation among the employees of the entire Public Service. Lacking
co-operation has made the Swedish police ineffective in fighting crime. The
educational crisis at universities and schools is further accentuated. The
obstruction of the principle and the applicable parts of the
Community Law of the EU is by the Government and its authorities considered
as such important, that they even jeopardise the medical care of the
citizens. In the public hospitals, they pay newly employed nurses up to
2000 SEK(155 £) the month more than those skilled nurses who had been
employed for years.
A recent, significant example: The Emergency Neurosurgery of the University
Hospital of Lund is of vital importance for accident patients of Southern
Sweden. Even there, in February 1999, the State authorities insisted on the
salary discrimination against the nurses who claimed 'equal pay for equal
work'. With regard to the working climate and the care to the patients,
even their head-physician had claimed the abolishment of the
discrimination. However, the leadership of the nurses' union had against
the will of their members agreed upon the discrimination. Therefore, the
nurses have no access to the Labour Court. Thus, the nurses could only
protest by resigning from their employment, which 25 of 45 nurses did. Two
weeks later, further 15 of 60 nurses at the intensive section of the same
University Hospital followed, because the politicians refuse their claims
for "Equal pay for equal work".
The protests of the nurses are spreading to further hospitals of the
country; for example 50 nurses in Skellefteå of Northern Sweden resigned
recently. In the meantime, this conflict has become typical for all Swedish
hospitals from Luleå in the North to Ystad in the South. The patients are
suffering from increasing operation queues. In stead of abolishing the
salary discrimination, the politicians engaged private nurse-agencies with
up to 3 times the costs of a nurse's salary. This was made public in a
documentary by the Swedish TV on 27/9 1999: "Revolt of the nurses. The
nurses' fight for higher salaries - without support from their union".
________________
While fairy-tales about Swedish Labour Law are circulated among the experts
on Labour Law in Europe, the 'grey eminence' of the EU-Commission
undermines the EU- provisions on Labour Law by his activity to have the new
'Swedish Model' accepted for the entire EU.
EU-COMMISSION FAVOURS UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATION
The EU-Commission knows that the xenophobian leadership of the unions
together with the Government run the discrimination of e.g. women and
citizens of other EU-
States.The EU-Commission knows, that the Swedish Government intentionally
obstruct the transformation of the Directives against discrimination into
Swedish Labour Law. By approving the illegal discrimination, the
EC-Commission tries to adopt this new 'Swedish Model' for the entire
European Union. If the Swedish Government are permitted to break Community
Law, other Governments will follow.
This is a danger to all those European Labour Unions, who defend civil
rights and the principle of . The EU-bureaucracy
in Brussels must be controlled; the Commission,which itself punished its
official van Buitenen with salary discrimination because he had disclosed
the corruption of the Commission to the elected Parliament !
THE EU-COMMISSION IS A DANGER TO THE RIGHTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE, BECAUSE
THE COMMISSION TRIES TO ADOPT THIS NEW AS GENERALLY
BINDING THE ENTIRE EU ! !
See also:
Subject: EC-Commission makes salary discrimination possible in European labour relations
European Union and DISCRIMINATION in LABOUR LAW
The EC-Commission violates the EC's Labour Law. Contrary to art.155 and 169
EC-Treaty it prevents the Directives of the EC's Council of Ministers
concerning the ban of discrimination in labour relations to become legally
effective.
Instead the EC-Commission tries by indirect means to make the arbitrary
salary discrimination after the new 'Swedish Model' binding the entire
EU. It is a smart application of Maggie THATCHER's neoliberalism to labour
relations making unions effluent.
Obviously, the rights of the employees of the entire EU ("Equal wages for
equal work") are in danger. However so far, no union representative of the
EC' s "Economic and Social Committee" has opposed these intentions. Below,
you find the list of these union representatives.
How the salary discrimination after the new "Swedish Model" is made model
for Europe by the EC-Commission, see:
Economic and Social Committee of the European Communities ; Union - Members ;
BELABED Eva Austria, AKOÖ
DELAPINA Thomas " , AK Wien
TÜCHLER Ernst " , ÖGB
VOGLER Heinz " , Gew. Privatangest.
ZÖHRER Gustav " , Gew.
Metall,Bergbau,Energie
DOCK Thierry Belgien, CSC
GRUSELIN Paul " , FGTB
HAAZE Guy " , ACLVB
LADRILLE Arthur " , CV
PIETTE Josly " , CSC
ENGELEN-KEFER Ursula Deutschl., DGB
GEUENICH Michael " , DGB
KONITZER Ursula " , DAG
SCHMITZ Klaus " , DGB
SCHUNK Albert " , IG-Metall
von SCHWERIN Alexander Graf " , ÖTV
WARBURG Wolfgang " , ÖTV
WILMS Hans-Joachim " , IG Bau, Agrar, Umwelt
KARGAARD Søren Denmark , FTF
SVENNINGSEN John " , LO
WISTISEN Ib " , LO
KANNISTO Tuulikki Finl. , SAK
LEMMETTY Markku " , CV
REUNA Martti " , STTK
BRIESCH Roger Frankr., CFDT
CAMBUS Claude " , CGC
CARMENTRAN Jean-Jacques " , FO
DANTIN Gérard " , CFDT
DECAILLON Joël " , CGT
GOURMELON Armel " , CFTC
QUENTIN Jean-Claude " , CGT-FO
RETUREAU Daniel " , CGT
CHRISTIE Campbell Gr.Brit. , STUC
FREEMAN John " , ATGWU
IRWIN Josie " , Royal College of Nursing
JACKSON Ken " , AEEU
JENKINS Tom " , TUC
MC GRATH Helen " , CV
SHEPHERD Alison " , UNISON
WARRILLOW Eddy " , GMB
WRIGHT George " , Transp. + General Workers' Union
KORYFIDIS Christoforos Greece , ADEDY
MANOLIS Ioannis " , GSEE
MANTZOURANIS Sokratis " , CV
PAPAMICHAIL Yannis " , GSEE
ATTLEY William A. Irl., SIPTU
CARMICHAEL Joan " , ICTU
ANGELO Maurizio Ital. ; CIDA
CASSINA Giacomina " ; CISL
CHIRIACO Franco " ; CGIL-FILCEA
COLOMBO Sergio " ; CISL
FLORIO Susanna " ; CGIL
KIRSCHEN Enric " ; UIL
LIVERANI Giorgio " ; UIL
POLVERINI Renata " ; UGL
SEPI Mario " ; CISL
VINAY Gianni " ; CGIL
DRUCKER Léon Lux.; LCGB
KONZ Joseph " ; CGT-L
KRATOCHWIL Joseph " ; CV
van DIJK Jan Jacob Nederl. ; CV
ETTY Thomas " ; FNV
van der HOOFT Jeannette " ; FNV
de KNEGT Kommer " ; CV
DRIJFHOUT-ZWEIJTZER Dédée " ; CV
CAL Vasco Port. ; CGTP-IN
CHAGAS Eduardo " ; CGTP-IN
SEQUEIRA Víctor Hugo " ; SITESE
BAEZA SANJUAN Ramón Span. ; CC.OO.
BETELU BAZO Amaia " ; ELA-STV(Bilbao)
MENDOZA CASTRO Juan " ; UGT
PARIZA CASTAÑOS Luis Miguel " ; CC.OO.
SANCHEZ MIGUEL María Candelas " ; CC.OO.
SANTILLAN CABEZA Sergio E. " ; UGT
ZUFIAUR NARVAIZA José María " ; UGT
SANTOS Manuel António " ; UGT
EHNMARK Ernst Swed. ; SACO
HÄGG Leif " ; LO
NYBERG Lars Allan " ; LO
WESTERLUND Uno " ; TCO
[ANNEX:]
____________________________________________________________________________
La Commission de la CE transgresse la loi, art.155 et 169 de la Convention
de la CE, et rend ainsi possible la discrimination par les salaires. Une
lettre adressée à un conseiller légal de la Commission est ci-jointe pour
votre information.
Avec mes salutations amicales, RHe.
_________________________________________________________________________
C O P Y
Dear Sir,
........ .
The legal problem which I shortly touched in your presence is as follows:
According to the Treaty of Rome (e.g. arts. 5, 100 and 119) discrimination
is prohibited in the EU.
In order to give effect to these provisions, the Council of Ministers had
issued a number of Directives, such as 1612/68/EEC, 75/117/EEC,Art.10, 10.
February 1975; 76/207/EEC, 79/7/EEC, 86/378/EEC, 86/613/EEC, 91/533/EEC,
14.October 1991 und 92/85/EEC.
By obstructing the implementation of these Directives into national law,
the Swedish Government allowed themselves to introduce salary
discrimination into their entire Public Service which covers about 40 % of
all employments. Victims are mostly women and employees with foreign origin
(EU-citizens).
It is the duty of the Commission in accord with arts. 155 and 169 EX
OFFICIO to control the implementation of the Directives into national law.
In his key-position, Mr Allan Larsson, the former responsible minister,
protected his Government from this implementation from the very beginning.
As a consequence, none of the many victims of discrimination has a chance
of judicially defending herself/himself against discrimination. The
unlawful discrimination is safeguarded completely by a 'denial of justice'
and 'denial of access to court'. Although prohibited, discrimination cannot
be contested judicially in Sweden! A complete "Catch 22" situation is
introduced into Community Law.
These are the essentials of the precedent case pending before the
EC-Authorities.
___________________
With my best wishes,
yours RHe
Reinhard HELMERS
Lecturer
Thomanders väg 2 C
SE 224 65 LUND/Sweden
Tel + Fax: Int + 46, 46 127833
Reinhard.Helmers@orgk1.lu.se