Statement of the 39th Congress of the Communist Party of Sweden: The Communists and the Collective Wage Bargaining

At the 39^th Congress of the Communist Party of Sweden, the following statement on the Communists and the Collective Wage Bargaining was adopted: 

Nothing shows the true face of social democracy more clearly than the negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement. They expose the worker-hostile nature of class collaboration. 

When inflation surged, the communists called for wages to be linked to inflation to protect workers from losing purchasing power. However, this was dismissed as impossible, supposedly because it would merely fuel further inflation. Even wage increases that simply kept pace with inflation were claimed to have the same effect. Economists from both the trade unions and large businesses echoed this sentiment in unison. The fact that such measures were being implemented in other countries, like Norway, was conveniently omitted. 

The outcome was agreements that compelled workers to accept real wage reductions of over 10 per cent. This resulted in a return to the same wage levels as in 2015–2016—in other words, capital and the social democrats rolled back the clock by ten years. As we now find ourselves in the midst of yet another round of wage negotiations, this weighs heavily on the workers, who continue to struggle with the escalating cost of living. 

There is no intention of easing this burden in the current round of wage negotiations. The collective benchmark has already been set— a modest 6.4 percent wage increase over two years, which averages out to just 3.2 percent per year. In other words, only a percent or so above inflation. The real wage gains that working people were hoping for have already been wiped out by previous wage suppression and rising living costs. 

All of this was made possible by the role social democracy plays within capitalism. It dominates the labour movement and forces it into a system of class collaboration that trades crumbs for peace on the labour market, guaranteeing stability for capital. Social democratic policy keeps workers on a short leash, and when capital demands more than just calm, social democracy is quick to oblige, delivering real wage cuts of over 10 per cent in recent years. 

For communists, it is absolutely crucial to challenge the grip of social democracy on workers’ organisations. Only then can class collaboration be replaced with a political line that genuinely serves working people—and only then can the trade unions become the fighting force they were meant to be.

We extend our solidarity to the most militant trade union in Sweden—the Swedish Dockworkers’ Union—which has recently faced significant repression, including the firing of its vice chairman by his employer. Despite this, the union continues to fight and demonstrate what is truly possible.

As communists, we act everywhere to root the trade unions in revolutionary principles, and that work continues wherever there is a communist.

Adopted at the 39th Congress of the Communist Party of Sweden.