Notice of industrial action: a new measure of conflict in collective bargaining processes

In this project, we will examine the reasons for using notices, the timing of the action, the actors involved, and the outcomes of giving notices by the Swedish labor market parties in the collective bargaining processes during the period of 1980-2018
Details
- Period: 2019-01-01 – 2021-12-31
- Budget: 3,930,000 SEK
- Funder: Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare

Description
The chosen time period allows us to compare how the notices have been used during contentious (1980s) and peaceful periods (1990s and 2000s). We will collect and code all notices using data from the National Mediation Office, collect and code information from selected collective agreements, and relate the collected data to already available relevant economic statistics (unemployment benefits, salaries, inflation rates etc.).
The results of this project make several important contributions:
- treating notice of industrial action as a new measure of labor market conflict we develop the concept "conflict" theoretically and provide new insights for better understanding of the disruptions in collective bargaining;
- we compile unique data on notices of industrial action which will be available for other scholars after the finalization of this project; and
- the new measure of conflict provides a more nuanced picture of the "peaceful Swedish labor market".
Project members
Project leader: Jenny Jansson
Co-investigators: Katrin Uba