Review of Lex Laval - Summary SOU 2015:83

The Swedish labour market model

The Swedish model for regulating conditions on the labour market
is usually characterised by a low level of central government
intervention, with conditions principally regulated through collective
agreements and the application of these agreements supervised
by the organisations that are party to them. Furthermore, there are
few legislative obstacles to taking industrial action to force the
opposite party to conclude a collective agreement. One prerequisite
if the Swedish model is to work is a high degree of organisation
among both workers and employers. The low level of central
government intervention has been considered to contribute to
ensuring that the social partners shoulder their responsibility for
society and its development, and are able to reach consensus. In
normal circumstances, relatively few working days are lost to
industrial action in Sweden compared with other European
countries. There has long been broad support for the Swedish
labour market model among the social partners and the parties
represented in the Riksdag.