Evening star., 1938-09-25
SWEDEN CURLING
INDUSTRIAL STRIFE
Commission Reports Wide
Adoption of Collective
Bargaining.
rs the Associated Press.

Bargaining.
By the Associated Press.
President Roosevelt's commission on
labor conditions abroad reported yes
terday that in Sweden, as in England,
widespread collective bargaining and
mutual respect between employer and
worker had reduced labor difficulties
TO minimum.
Referring to the situation found by
the commission in both countries, Mr.
Roosevelt said in a public statement:
Employers generally have fully ac-
eepted a program of collective bar
gaining; there is extensive independent
organization of both groups and all
concerned live up to the rules of the
game. participating with restraint and
mutual respect in the processes Of
collective bargaining"
In reporting on Sweden, the COM
mission emphasized, as it did in the
case of Great Britain, that collective
bargaining there is conducted, gener-
ally, on an industry-wide basis, be-
tween strong unions and strongly or
ganized groups of employers.
Industrial UniOnism Spreads.
"Originally many constituent unions
of the National Confederation (of
trade unions) were craft unions" the
commission said. Since 1909 the con-
federation has frequently expressed a
preference for organization and collec-
tive bargaining on an industry basis
and most of the constituent unions
today are of the industrial type.
Each of these carries on collective
bargaining for all the workers in its
own industry. However, craft unions
frequently negotiate jointly as a group
or federation with the employers Or
ganization in their industries.
The degree of organization varies
IN different occupations. 1t is higher
in industry, handicrafts, commerce and
communications and lower in agri-
culture and forestry Among manual
workers in the manufacturing indus
tries it is estimated to be approx
imately 80 per cent"
Employers Strongly Organized.
The employers are strongly organized
also, the report said. and their SWed-
1sh Employers Federation represents
81 associations of employers in par
tlcular industries which have employees
totallng 100000. No member may en-
gage in strike or lockout opposed by
the federation. On the other hand,
the federation has power to order a
lockout. and every member in the
affected industry is bound to obey the
order ''on pain of damages
Other findings made by the COM
mission included:
Many small employers are not men,
bers of the Employers Federation. but
nevertheless adhere to the wage and
hour schedules of the union contracts
which it negotiates
NO union contract specifies a closed
shop and, in fact, the closed shop is
not an issue because Of the very ex-
tenslve membership Of the unions and
the lack of employer efforts to break
them up.
Discrimination Is Rare.
Discrimination for union activities
Is rarity. but redress is provided in
labor court, which may order REIN
statement with back pay of a worker
dismissed for such reasons.
Union contracts are enforcible at
law, unlike in America and Great
Britain.
The union contracts prohibit strikes,
except sympathy strikes entered on
to assist another lawful strike.
Hours are generally fixed at 48 to
the week, with a limited amount of
overtime permitted.
1nter-union disputes-jurisdictional
controversies-are uncommon.
The law places no restrictions on
union activities beyond those imposed
on all individuals by the ordinary po-
lice laws
Government conciliators are pro-
vided and their work constitutes the
only Intervention by the Government,
all collective bargaining being on a
voluntary basis.
Notice Required OH Strikes.
All strikes and lockouts must be
accompanied by seven-day notice
to the other side, which also goes to
the district conciliator, together with
reasons for the proposed strike or
lockout.
There are no laws dealing with pick
eting.
Since a disastrous experience in
1881, strikebreakers are never used.
Compulsory arbitration has been
abandoned after a brief trial
The unions have interposed no OBJ
lection to the use of labor saving ma
chinery, but have insisted on a pro-
portionate share in it's benefits. Thus
productivity per worker has increased
by 1913 per cent since 1924 and real
wages have risen 81 per cent.
The members of Mr.. Roosevelt's
commission were w. Ellison Chalmers,
William H. Davis. Marian Dickerman,
Lloyd K. Garrison. Henry 1. Harri-
man, Charles R. Hook. Anna Marie
Rosenberg Gerard Swope and Robert