A Comparison And Contrasting Of The French And Swedish Models Of Industrial Relations. The Factors Explaining The Similarities And Differences Between These Two Countries Industrial Relations Systems.

| |28/04/2011 |
| |Comparative Industrial Relations |
| | |
| |Juan Carlos Manresa Vila|
| |09298107 |

|[A comparison and contrasting of the French and Swedish models of industrial relations. The factors explaining the similarities |
|and differences between these two countries industrial relations systems.] |
|University ofHertfordshire |

Table of contents

Introduction 3

The Unions 4

Employers’ Organisations 6

The State 7

Collecting Bargaining 8

Conclusion 9

References 10

Introduction

This report is dealing with a comparison between the Swedish and French industrial relationsystems. This paper deals with a brief explanation of both the Swedish and the French model, the main features that make different and unique each industrial relation system and some convergence in both systems.
Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden experienced a late but rapid industrialisation and the country has beencharacterised by a well organised trade union movement and powerful employer organisations ever since.
France is one of the biggest European countries and economies. It has a population of 64 million people and about 2.5 million companies. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth, inflation, productivity growth and the country’s unemployment rate are relatively comparable to EU averages.
Thispiece of work will have a closer look first at the Unions, secondly at the employers and their representatives, then at the state and finally at the collective bargaining in both countries.

The Unions

The level of union membership in Sweden is very high – at 71% – although it has fallen from its peak of 86% in 1995. There are three main union confederations, LO, TCO and SACO, which aredivided along occupational and educational lines in line with the traditional way in which Swedish employees are grouped, and there is considerable co-operation between them.

This exceptionally high union density by international standards is explained by several factors. One is that the unemployment benefit system is administered by the unions. Most workers regard it as sensible to belong toa union for protection against possible unemployment. Other benefits offered by the unions help them further in recruiting members. It is also true that the Swedish employers in general have not displayed hostile attitudes to unions; the union-busting seen in the U.S is uncommon in Sweden. Thus, most Swedes see joining a union as normal when entering the labour market. (Hammarstrom, Huzzard andNilsson in Bamber el al 2004)

In membership terms the French trade union movement is one of the weakest in Europe with only 8% of employees in unions. It is divided into a number of rival confederations, competing for membership. (The main confederations are the CGT, CFDT, FO, CFTC and CFE-CGC.) But despite low membership and apparent division French trade unions have strong support inelections for employee representatives and are able to mobilise French workers to great effect.

The reasons why historically union density is low in France:

1. Major restructuring has taken place in the French economy. There has been a movement away from unionised industrial sectors to new industrial sectors, and a shift of jobs from industry to service sector. The growing number of SMEs...