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Sveriges Akademikers Centralorganisation

Saco

Saco, Sveriges akademikers centralorganisation, är en facklig federation av akademikerförbund som driver akademikernas intressen.

Lobbying Activity

Response to The new Action Plan on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights

9 Sept 2025

Saco welcomes the forthcoming revision of the action plan of the pillar of social rights. The multiple and ongoing transitions have a significant impact on our societies and labour markets, and a flexible and inclusive implementation of the principles of the pillar could help the workers and the societies of the EU through these transitions. Promoting social dialogue and collective bargaining should be the guiding principle implementing the pillar of social rights. Therefor capacity building and strengthening of social dialogue and social partners in the member states is a prerequisite to reaching the goals of the pillar. A strong social dialogue on national level is a vehicle for upward convergence and social welfare which also are preconditions for productivity and competitiveness. In our endeavor to promote and develop the principles of the pillar it is equally important to respect the different labour market systems within the EU. It is fundamental that well-functioning collective bargaining at national level can continue to thrive and deliver satisfactory results in the labour market. It is important for national social partners to have the space to bargain collectively and not be constrained by EU legislation. This should be considered when designing policies at EU-level. Social partners need to be involved and consulted on both national and EU level ahead of future initiatives on the pillar. The work on a new action plan for the Pillar goes in parallel with the simplification agenda where burdensome regulation, hindering EU competitiveness, is in focus. In this context we would like to remind the commission that social protection, strong autonomous trade unions and social partners contribute to well-functioning societies and economic growth. Workers rights, good working conditions and social protection are the fundaments of prosperous societies and should never be perceived as administrative burdens.
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Response to Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives

7 Mar 2025

Saco calls for the revision of the EU public procurement and concessions Directives to ensure that public money goes to economic operators that respect workers and trade union rights,. The respect and promotion of these key conditions must be an integral part of any public procurement process, from planning to award and performance of contracts. In order to ensure that EU procurement and concessions rules support social progress and quality jobs, also other elements are of importance in the revision of the Directives, including: Reinforcing the social clause in Article 18 (DIRECTIVE 2014/24/EU) Making sure that guaranteeing the respect of the right to collective bargaining and fair working conditions can always be considered a relevant requirement Ensuring full respect for the conditions defined in ILO Convention C94 on Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Eliminating the possibility to award public contracts on the basis of price only (lowest price) and ensuring the Most Economic Advantageous Tender MEAT is applied Ensuring adequate focus on promoting quality jobs and safeguarding employment and job security, including in cases of changes in public procurement contracts Reinforcing the possibility for contracting authorities to give a strong focus to social and sustainability criteria, including environmental and climate ones Regulating more strictly subcontracting (including by ensuring equal treatment, introducing joint and several liability and a limit to the length of the chain) Reinforcing the possibility to exclude from tender processes companies that have not respected (or whose subcontractors have not respected) trade union and workers rights and labour obligations, including collective agreements Reinforcing monitoring and sanction mechanisms to ensure the respect of applicable labour obligations by economic operators, as well as of other requirements, and ensuring that the lack of respect of the relevant conditions leads to dissuasive sanctions, including the termination of the contract and the exclusion from procurement processes Ensuring that economic operators that engage in tax evasion or avoidance cannot be awarded public procurement contracts Guaranteeing that public provision of services, public/public partnerships as well as in-house provision of services always remain a valid option and are not put under pressure, including explicitly excluding compulsive competitive tendering Member States must provide both financial and non-financial support to equip procurers with the necessary resources to fulfil these responsibilities
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Response to Single Market Strategy 2025

31 Jan 2025

Input to the EU Commissions Consultation on the Single Market Strategy The Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (Saco) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the EU Commissions consultation on the Single Market Strategy. As Swedens confederation for graduated professionals, Saco emphasizes the importance of a well-functioning internal market that fosters fair working conditions, skills development, democratic values, and sustainable economic growth. 1. Strengthening Education, Research, and Lifelong Learning Prioritize increased investments in research, higher education, and skills development. Enhance mobility for academics and researchers. 2. Ensuring Fair and Sustainable Working Conditions Saco supports measures that uphold strong labour rights, social protections, and safe working environments. A fair and inclusive working life is a part of the European welfare model and contributes to innovation and competitiveness. 4. Strengthening Democratic Values and the Rule of Law -Make EU funding conditional on compliance with fundamental EU values. -Expand the rule of law conditionality mechanism to prevent democratic backsliding. -Combat corruption, which distorts fair competition and reduces trust in EU institutions 5. Combating Labour Market Fraud and Undeclared Work Labour market fraud undermines workers rights and distorts fair competition. Saco supports: Stronger cross-border cooperation to combat wage dumping and exploitation. Enhanced national enforcement mechanisms to address labour market abuses. A fair and inclusive labour market is one of EU:s competitive advantages. 6. Removing Barriers and Harmonizing Regulations Harmonize regulations and standards to support academic and professional mobility. Allow for derogations from certain labour directives through collective agreements to respect national labour models. Strengthen control of the conditions of posted workers. Dumping conditions must never be a competitive advantage. 7. Financing the Green and Digital Transitions The EU should: Adjust fiscal rules to allow increased public investment in green technologies, research, and digitalization. Provide incentives for sustainable innovation and digital transformation. Maintain flexibility in the EUs financial framework to balance investment needs with fiscal sustainability. 8. Strengthening EU Tax Coordination and Combating Tax Avoidance Saco supports: Harmonization of corporate taxation for large multinational companies to reduce tax avoidance. Saco wants to strengthen fair competition while respecting national tax policy competencies. 9. Preserving the Swedish Labour Market Model EU policies should: Avoid imposing one-size-fits-all labour regulations. Make directives focus more on what should be achieved than on how it should be achieved. Directives are meant to be implemented in national legislation. 10. Strengthening the EUs Role in Global Trade and Strategic Autonomy: The EU Should promote free trade while ensuring strategic autonomy in key industries. Partnering foremost with states that share our values and help fostering democratic societies. Investing in energy, technology, and research infrastructure to reduce dependencies on external actors. 11. EU Enlargement and Single Market Integration: Future EU enlargement must be conditional on: Strong commitments to democratic governance, economic stability, and the rule of law. A differentiated integration approach that allows flexibility while maintaining Single Market integrity. Conclusion: By incorporating these principles into the Single Market Strategy, the EU can foster a more competitive, fair, and sustainable European economy. The strategy must balance economic growth with democratic values, social sustainability, innovation, and strong labour protections. Saco looks forward to continued engagement in shaping a Single Market that benefits all European citizens and supports long-term prosperity.
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Response to 2024 Evaluation of the European Labour Authority

2 Nov 2023

Taking into account that the European Labour Authority started its work during the pandemic and that the mobility it is supposed to supervise was more or less suspended during the pandemic, Saco finds it hard to evaluate its function in a meaningful way. In spite of this we have some remarks based on the the resolution of the European Parliament on the evaluation of ELA. We think the mandate permits ELA to work efficiently, and we do not see any need to make it broader. We can see ELA becoming an information hub, with relevant links to national authorities of course, for posting workers in the EU. That perspective could be developped further and maybe also include support for national authorities, if demanded, in building their registration of posting etc. We find the system with national experts at ELA very valuable, as it gives ELA direct access to good knowledge about the systems in every Member State. To conclude Saco believes that ELA should be given some more years to work before any big changes are made to its mandate/regulation. Thank You for the possibility to give our view on this matter. Jenny Grensman on behalf of The Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations
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Meeting with Joost Korte (Director-General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) and Brussels Office of the Swedish Trade Unions and

25 Apr 2023 · Future EU-legislative proposal and collective agreements

Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

5 Dec 2022 · General discussion on the employment and social agenda and preparation of the Swedish Presidency of the EU. State of play of the negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council on the Platform workers directive.

Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

28 Oct 2022 · Directive on platform work and social dialogue initiative.

Response to Strengthening social dialogue

19 Oct 2022

Sveriges Akademikers centralorganisation, SACO ser mycket positivt på kommissionens kommande initiativ kring social dialog. För Saco och Sverige är den sociala dialogen kärnan i den svenska arbetsmarknadsmodellen. Vi vill tacka för möjligheten att inkomma med konkreta exempel på hur den sociala dialogen fungerar och vilka möjligheter som finns i den sociala dialogen på arbetsplatsnivå. Nedan beskrivs tre korta exempel på hur avtal mellan parterna kan bidra till snabb och effektiv omställning. I det första fallet handlar det om hur man genom ett centralt avtal mellan parterna snabbt kunde förhandla fram ett lokalt avtal på Volvo AB i början av Covid-19 pandemin. Avtalet gjorde att uppsägningar av personal kunde undvikas. I de två andra casen från Volvo och Ericsson har parterna framgångsrikt avtalat om kompetensutveckling inom ramen för anställningen. Detta möter företagets behov av ny kompetens till följd av digitalisering och klimatomställning samtidigt som det tryggar anställningen och utvecklar kompetensen hos medarbetarna. 1. Korttidsavtalen under Covid-9. Tack vare etablerade relationer kunde ex akademikerföreningen på Volvo AB förhandla fram sitt korttidsavtal 2020 en dag efter att avtalet mellan Svenskt Näringsliv och Sveriges Ingenjörer blivit klart. Arbetet gjorde att företagen inte behövde säga upp personal under pandemin när komponentbrist och smittorisk gjorde att verksamheten behövde pausas. I Sverige bestod korttidsavtalen av två delar – först ett centralt kollektivavtal mellan fackförbund och arbetsgivarorganisation och sedan ett lokalt avtal mellan lokalt fack och arbetsgivare. Även arbetsgivare utan kollektivavtal kunde ansöka och få stöd från staten för korttidspermitteringar men en arbetsgivare med kollektivavtal fick större frihet att i samverkan med sin lokala fackklubb utforma avtalet efter verksamheten. 2. Strategisk kompetensplanering för företag och individ Ett nära samarbete och en ständigt pågående dialog och förhandling har förändrat planeringen inför framtiden för Volvo AB. Ett systematiskt påverkansarbete från det lokala facket har fått som resultat att medarbetarna involveras i planeringen för företagets framtida verksamhet och utveckling. Medarbetarna uppmanas att reflektera över sin egen plats i företagets utveckling och förses med ett utbildningsinsatser för att komma dit. En slags matchning av kompetens och kompetensutveckling inom företaget. Även här undviker man uppsägningar av personal för att istället ställa om befintlig kompetens. 3. Ericsson gick från ständig neddragning till ständig omställning: Inspirationen till Volvoakademikernas arbete kom från en process akademikermedlemmarna på Ericsson startade efter att företaget haft en lång rad nerdragningar. Till slut gick de anställda bara och väntade på vem som skulle bli uppsagd nästa gång. Facket lyckades efter långvarig social dialog få ledningen att lyssna och inleda en långsiktig kompetensplanering tillsammans med de anställda. Många kan ställas om inom sin anställning och de som lämnar företaget gjorde det som en del av sin egen utvecklingsplan. Tack vare att parterna lyssnade och litade på varandra lyckas man med den gröna omställningen utan massuppsägningar. Bifogat finns också ett gemensamt PM från LO, TCO och Saco där vi kommer med konkret input till hur vi ser att EU kan bidra till att stärka den sociala dialogen både på EU-nivå och nationell nivå. Om kommissionen önskar mer utförliga beskrivningar av företagscasen ställer vi självklart upp med fördjupade beskrivningar.
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Response to Initiative on adequate minimum wages

22 Dec 2020

SACO’s conclusions on the draft directive on adequate minimum wages in the EU: • The draft directive falls outside the competence delegated to the EU in accordance with Article 153.5 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). • The draft directive addresses representation and collective defence of the interests of workers and employers, including co-determination, which according to Article 153.1.f TFEU requires a unanimous decision in Council. • The draft directive is not compliant with the principles of subsidiarity or proportionality set out in the Treaty of the European Union (TEU). • The draft directive could cause severe harm to the autonomy of social partners and well-functioning labour market models, such as the Swedish model. For further analysis see attached file.
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Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

21 Oct 2020 · Meeting on minimum wage.

Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

13 Dec 2019 · Minimum wage, skilling of workforce in digital and green transitions

Meeting with Michel Barnier (Head of Task Force Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom) and The Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Tjänstemännens centralorganisation

5 Oct 2017 · Meeting with the Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom under Article 50 TEU

Meeting with Cecilia Malmström (Commissioner)

16 Jan 2017 · Trade policy and EU affairs