Prenumerera på Kollegas nyhetsbrev
Är du medlem i Unionen? Vill du få alla våra nyheter, tips och granskningar direkt i din inkorg?
Enkelt! Anmäl dig via länken
S vill avskaffa allmän visstid
Socialdemokraterna vill ta bort allmän visstid som anställningsform och presenterade vid en presskonferens på onsdagen det förslaget och 39 andra vallöften som partiet tänker sig ska leda till en tryggare arbetsmarknad.
Svensk ekonomi är urstarkt och framgångarna ska komma alla till del. Om man arbetar hårt ska man också vara trygg i sitt arbete, sade statsminister Stefan Löfven när han presenterade en handlingsplan i tio punkter för en trygg arbetsmarknad tillsammans med arbetsmarknadsminister Ylva Johansson och ordförande för Handelsanställdas förbund, Susanna Gideonsson.
Om socialdemokraterna vinner valet kommer bland annat anställningsformen allmän visstid, som infördes 2007 och innebär att man kan vara anställd i två år utan att bli tillsvidareanställd, avskaffas helt, lovade Ylva Johansson.
– Vi ser ett jättestort problem med att arbetsgivare slentrianmässigt använder sig av allmän visstid trots en stark arbetsmarknad. Självklart ska man få visstidsanställa, men det ska alltid finnas sakliga skäl det, sade hon.
Svenskt Näringsliv var snabbt på bollen och deklarerar på sin hemsida att drygt 60 procent av medlemsföretagen anser att om allmän visstidsanställning avskaffas leder det till färre jobb och sämre service. Detta kommer framför allt att drabba unga och utrikes födda, skriver arbetsgivarna.
Men Susanna Gideonsson avfärdar kritiken:
– Vi lever i tron att vi har ganska smarta arbetsgivare och att de varken kommer att anställa fler eller färre. Men som arbetstagare ska du ha rätt att veta veta var och när du ska jobba så att du kan planera ditt liv. Konsekvenserna för drygt 600 000 visstidsanställda är stress, dålig ekonomi och usel pension. Det är ett slöseri med människor och arbetskraft när vi har så många som vill jobba men inte tillåts göra det.
Bättre system för omställning fanns också med på listan över vallöften.
- Sverige har svart bälte för den som förlorar sitt jobb. Nu behövs något motsvarande för att människor ska kunna gå vidare utan att först bli arbetslösa, sade Ylva Johansson.
Bläddra i senaste numret av våra e-tidningar
No guaranteed wages in Northvolt's US reconstruction
Northvolt's financial troubles continue. Now, the battery manufacturer's hopes rest on a reconstruction in the USA. However, the process means that the state guaranteed wages – lönegaranti – will not apply to Union members.
The clock is ticking for the struggling battery manufacturer Northvolt. During the autumn, debts have piled up with the Swedish Enforcement Authority, and recently several of the company's major shareholders withdrew from negotiations for new financing. Since its inception in 2015, Northvolt has raised SEK 110 billion, but now the money is almost gone. According to CEO Peter Carlsson, they need to raise just over SEK 10 billion in the coming year, but so far the search for new financing has been fruitless.
Maintaining control with Chapter 11
Therefore, Northvolt has now taken the next step to save the company. The management has applied for a so-called Chapter 11 procedure, a type of reconstruction process in the USA that was recently used by the airline SAS. One possible explanation for the battery manufacturer turning to an American court is that it is considered doubtful that Northvolt would be granted a Swedish reconstruction, as it requires the company to be fundamentally viable. Another advantage of Chapter 11 is that the management is likely to retain control over the company.
No guaranteed wages for employees
However, there is a downside – for the employees. In an American process, Northvolt's employees will not be able to benefit from the Swedish state guaranteed wages - lönegaranti - according to several legal experts contacted by Kollega.
– The Swedish state does not pay any guaranteed wages if the company has not initiated a reconstruction or bankruptcy in Sweden. If Northvolt only initiates a Chapter 11 procedure in the USA, all the company's obligations to employees in Sweden to pay wages and other compensation according to the employment contract remain, says Hans Andersson, chairman of the Swedish Association of Restructuring and Bankruptcy Administrators.
If Union members at Northvolt do not receive their wages, the union can, however, request the company to be declared bankrupt in a Swedish court.
– If Northvolt does not pay wages on time, the employee or the union can collect the wages through the Enforcement Authority and ultimately request that the company be declared bankrupt if the wages are not settled, explains Hans Andersson.
Unionen: "Will collect unpaid wages"
Filip Vujcic, a union lawyer at Unionen, also assesses that members cannot benefit from the state guaranteed wages when a corporate reconstruction is initiated in the USA.
– This means that Unionen, in the event of future unpaid wages, needs to safeguard its members' rights through wage collection. According to Swedish bankruptcy rules, a corporate reconstruction in the USA does not prevent a member's bankruptcy application from being examined in a Swedish court, he says.
Will Unionen request Northvolt to be declared bankrupt if members do not receive their wages?
– Unionen does not comment on that question at this time.
*In wage collection, Unionen usually sends a demand letter to the employer, who has seven days to pay the wages. If the wages are still not paid, the employer receives a payment order via service. If that does not help either, Unionen sends a bankruptcy application to the district court.
This text has been translated with the help of AI.
CHAPTER 11
- American reconstruction process aimed at giving a company a chance to continue with all or parts of its operations. Normally, no administrator is appointed, and the debtor continues to run the business themselves.
- The company must present a plan that must be approved by the court. The plan aims to determine which debts the debtor should pay and which debts should be written off. The plan also provides the opportunity to terminate unfavorable contracts and reorganize the business so that it can continue to operate profitably.
- One advantage of turning to a court in the USA instead of using the Swedish reconstruction process is that a Chapter 11 has an impact in several countries. If a group has companies in different countries, they are all drawn under the same process instead of carrying it out in each country and risking different outcomes.
