The agreement reached is 7.4% over a two year period with 4.1% the first year and 3.3% the next. Beside this there's also alow pay deal of 1350 kronor - lower than expected. This means that with an inflation of 10% the workers receive a decrease in real wages this year - but a good change of real wage increases next year, according to the union IF Metalls chairman Marie Nilsson. However, this implies that inflation has receded back to 2%, which seems all but certain today. Even if that is the case there's a long road ahead to win back the years of real wage increases that inflation has now gobbled up. We've said it before and we'll say it again, the union leaders have betrayed their members.
It's worth while to note how close the unions came to their initial demand of 4.4% which was low, but the capitalists offer was much lower. However, this has probably less to do with that the national organisation of unions has skilled negotiators and more to do with that the capitalists didn't think of the offer as obscenely high as they initially declared.
Evidently they've looked abroad and seen unions which have demanded, and won, wage increases between 10-20%. Then they've been able to feel pretty satisfied with the Swedish model and leaders the national organisation of unions "sense of responsibility" toward swedish capital
It's high time to settle the score with the swedish class collaboration. It's high time that the fists that are clenched in the pockets are stretched up into the air and that the working class collectively give the union kingpins and the upper class the boot. It's high time to force capital to its knees and take what's ours.
Scrap the target - The wages must up!
Down with class collaboration and the Swedish model - Forward for class struggle and socialism!
RKU:s central committee
