Finland[edit]
In Finland, collective labour agreements are universally valid. This means that a collective agreement in an economic sector becomes a universally applicable legal minimum for any individual's employment contract, whether or not they are a union member. For this condition to apply, half of the workforce in that sector needs to be union members, thus supporting the agreement.
Workers are not forced to join a union in a specific workplace. Nevertheless, with 70% average unionization, most economic sectors are under a collective labour agreement. An agreement does not prohibit higher wages and better benefits, but establishes a legal minimum, similarly to a minimum wage. Furthermore, a national income policy agreement is often, but not always reached, which includes all trade unions, employers’ associations, and the Finnish government.[1]
Italy[edit]
Like in Finland, collective labour agreement determinate a universal applicabile legal minimum wage, which is universally valid (in Latin: erga omnes), whether the worker is a member of a trade union or not.
The introduction of collective labour agreement in Italy took place during the fascist period with the promulgation of the Labour Charter of 1927. [4]
In 1959, Vigorelli-type laws transferred the national collective labor agreements in force at the time into an ordinary law in such a way as to make the set of economic and regulatory rights established in these agreements universal and binding.[5]
For the first time in the history of Italian industrial relations, in December 2010, Marchionne decided to unilaterally let the Fiat group out of Confindustria and Federmeccanica. the Fiat group decided to start separate negotiations with some trade union organizations to define a specific company contract for the automotive sector in force within its plants, as an exception to and in lieu of the national collective labor contract.[6]
In 2013 the Italian banking association (ABI) was the first association to decide to cancel the national collective labor agreement of the banking sector and to adopt a separate negotiation with the trade union organizations.[7] In the subsequent contractual renewals of 2018 and 2022, the trade unions and bank's associations agreed on the right of withdrawal from the national collective labor agreement for both parties.[8]
Both employers'associations and trade unions of wage worker|wage workers of the public and private sectors have the right to unilaterally withdraw from the contract.
Sweden[edit]
In Sweden about 90 per cent of all employees are covered by collective agreements, in the private sector 83 per cent (2017).[9][10] Collective agreements usually contain provisions concerning minimum wages. Sweden does not have statutory regulation of minimum wages or legislation on extension of collective agreements to unorganized employers. Non-organized employers can sign substitute agreements directly with trade unions, but many do not. The Swedish model of self-regulation applies only to workplaces and employees covered by collective agreements.[11]