Industrial Democracy in Scandinavia

Abstract

In the 1930s industrial relations in the Scandina vian countries changed from conflict to cooperation. This change laid the basis for the negotiated establishment after World War II of consultative plant committees. The limita tions inherent to the operation of such committees led, in the 1960s, to demands for more sweeping changes in industrial decision making, including demands for employee codeter mination. All three Scandinavian countries have granted to their employees legal representation on company boards, but the unions have stressed that such representation will have only limited value if it is not simultaneously accom panied by the introduction of democracy on the shop floor. To that end experiments with semi-autonomous work groups have been carried out in Norway. In Sweden a law on codetermination in 1976 has made decision making at all company levels subject to collective bargaining. Moreover, in Denmark and Sweden labor has demanded a share in future corporate capital growth through employee stock ownership, and bills designed to achieve this objective have been drafted but not yet enacted in Denmark and Sweden. In general, these developments point to an increasing inte gration of trade union leaders in management functions and more government intervention in economic policy and labor relations.

News from Nowhere: Participatory Design in the Scandinavian Workplace

“…These agreements would allow employees participating on productivity councils to exert more influence on safety rules, plant welfare arrangements, long-term personnel policies, and protections against arbitrary dismissals. 15 In the mid-1960s, as tensions between labor and management rose within Scandinavia, the LOs advocated for enhanced education and research-jointly financed by the trade unions, the respective Scandinavian states, and the private sector-to help prepare workers for participation on the councils. A basic agreement between the Norwegian LO and NAF was signed in 1966, mandating that in all companies with more than 250 employees a company assembly should be established wherein one-third of the delegates were elected by the employees and two-thirds by the shareholders.…”