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with priority given to vocational retraining (up 25.3%), measures to train and employ the handicapped (up 18.2%), and advance orders to industry and public works (up 15.3%). The AMS centrally controls all facets of the manpower program but works through county labor market boards to insure maximum effectiveness in solving local problems. Throughout the country the AMS employs 5,400 persons, 1,100 of them part-time.

Other autonomous boards include the Workers Protection Board, which insures implementation of laws governing hours of work and industrial safety; the National Social Insurance Board, which supervises most of the social insurance programs; and the National Board of Health and Welfare, the central authority for all social welfare administration and research, and an instrument for labor-management mediation.

In comparison with other countries, labor legislation in Sweden is limited in scope; there are no labor code, no minimum wage law, and no compulsory arbitration. If negotiations reach an impasse, the assistance of a government-appointed mediator can be requested. In the event that either side threatens to break off negotiations, the law makes the intervention of a government mediator obligatory. The mediator, however, can do no more than offer his services, and the parties can resort to strikes or lockouts any time after giving the required 1 week's notice. Ordinarily, though, an impasse is temporary and is resolved through discussions which may go on around the clock— a process which the Swedes refer to as "night-mangling."

In 1969 man-days lost due to labor disputes increased almost tenfold over the previous year, and totaled 112,300 in 32 strikes. Wildcat strikes numbered 25 and accounted for 63,900 man-days lost. While there were no significant legal strikes in 1970, wildcat strikes involving some 31,000 employees accounted for 157,000 man-days lost. Figure 15 compares the number of working days lost in Sweden, in other Western European countries, and the United States.

Labor agreements usually conclude with a collective settlement drawn up following negotiations between the two sides. Once ratified, the contract is binding all along the line from the national federations to the individual employees and union members. Even resignation from the organization does not free them from the terms of the contract. During the lifetime of the agreement, neither party can resort to direct action to settle a dispute over interpretation or application.

When disputes over the operation or interpretation of an existing agreement cannot be settled by the parties concerned, either party may refer matters to the Labor Court, a special tribunal set up in 1928. This court, the main agency for settling disputes arising out of collective agreements, is composed of seven members: two each from the SAF and the LO and three from outside, two of whom must hav had experience as judges. If a case involves white-collar workers, one of the LO members is replied by a TCO member. The verdicts of the court are final; there is no appeal from its decisions. The court also has the power to impose damages. Resort to strike or lockout is, in effect, banned in disputes falling under the court's jurisdiction. They may be permitted only in the rare instance that the court calls for a new contract and the parties fail to agree on the terms of such a contract. Of the total 3,500 cases handled by the Labor Court in the period 1929-69, nearly 90% were submitted from the employees side. Fewer than 1% of the disputes

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090021-3