<p>The purpose of this essay is to examine wage-earners' investment funds from the ideological point of view. Were they in any way an integrated part of social democratical democratic socialism and reformism? I emphasize Olof Palme´s ideological idea of democratic socialism and reformism, and how he handled the issue. How did the question of these funds correspondent with the basic ideological points of view, and what was the standpoint of Palme in this issue.</p><p>My method is built upon a deep study and analyses of SAP board of party and the standing committees protocol in the light of Olof Palme´s and SAP's ideology. I even use information from literature, inquiries and dissertations. I will mainly focus on Palme´s standpoint during this time.</p><p>There are the tree question areas and answers in this essay. There is an obvious tension between the two poles of labour movement, the state socialism represented by the social democratic party with a social outlook from above and the movement socialism, represented by the trade union movement with view from below. How did the wage-earners' investment funds stand to this traditional tension? How did Olof Palme remain to it? The answers to these questions are, that Olof Palme was very aware of this tension and he warned the trade union to be too radical. The proposal had a more reformistic formation when it was transmitted from the movement socialistic pole to the state socialistic pole.</p><p>How did the wage-earners' investment funds fit in democratic socialism? The proposal of the wage-earners' investment funds meant that the function socialistic line, which traditionally was brought by the social democracy, now was changed to the line of ownership. Was it Palmes intention to implement a socialistic society with the help of the wage-earners' investment funds, to be more an a large public sector? The final proposition was a compromise and had lost its radical characteristics. It was never Olof Palme’s intention to implement a socialistic society with the help of the wage-earners' investment funds.</p><p>How did the wage-earners' investment funds fit in the reformistic point of view? Were they system changing or system preserving, or both? The answer to this in this essay is, that the origin proposal was radical and system changing. The final proposal was both system preserving and system changing.</p>

<p>The aim of this thesis is to use a power perspective to describe the workers’ struggle for co-determination in the Swedish labour market during the period 1890–1939. The study explores how trade unions in general attempted to limit article 23, which asserted employers’ control over hiring and dismissal. At the same time the study clarifies differences in union power between various groups of workers. The prevalent historical view regarding the distribution of power in the labour market is thus questioned.</p><p>The study shows that workers were not powerless before the Saltsjöbaden agreement in 1938. In certain areas workers, through their unions, already at the beginning of the 20th century had fairly good possibilities of influencing both hiring and dismissal. Collective agreements that were entered into before the defeat of the workers in the great conflict in the Swedish labour market in 1909, as well as collective agreements signed during the 1920s and 1930s, can make both the Saltsjöbaden agreement and present-day regulations look “hostile to workers”. In collective agreements workers achieved considerable limitations of employers’ arbitrary freedom to hire and dismiss workers. Certain unions could control their labour market efficiently by means of a labour exchange of their own. The development, however, varied over time and between different trade unions. Business cycles generally influenced how much power unions could exert. Access to power resources and other conditions varied between different workers’ groups. While some attained considerable power over hiring and dismissal, others had no possibilities of taking part in decision-making.</p>

The aim of this thesis is to use a power perspective to describe the workers’ struggle for co-determination in the Swedish labour market during the period 1890–1939. The study explores how trade unions in general attempted to limit article 23, which asserted employers’ control over hiring and dismissal. At the same time the study clarifies differences in union power between various groups of workers. The prevalent historical view regarding the distribution of power in the labour market is thus questioned. The study shows that workers were not powerless before the Saltsjöbaden agreement in 1938. In certain areas workers, through their unions, already at the beginning of the 20th century had fairly good possibilities of influencing both hiring and dismissal. Collective agreements that were entered into before the defeat of the workers in the great conflict in the Swedish labour market in 1909, as well as collective agreements signed during the 1920s and 1930s, can make both the Saltsjöbaden agreement and present-day regulations look “hostile to workers”. In collective agreements workers achieved considerable limitations of employers’ arbitrary freedom to hire and dismiss workers. Certain unions could control their labour market efficiently by means of a labour exchange of their own. The development, however, varied over time and between different trade unions. Business cycles generally influenced how much power unions could exert. Access to power resources and other conditions varied between different workers’ groups. While some attained considerable power over hiring and dismissal, others had no possibilities of taking part in decision-making.

The purpose of this essay is to examine wage-earners' investment funds from the ideological point of view. Were they in any way an integrated part of social democratical democratic socialism and reformism? I emphasize Olof Palme´s ideological idea of democratic socialism and reformism, and how he handled the issue. How did the question of these funds correspondent with the basic ideological points of view, and what was the standpoint of Palme in this issue. My method is built upon a deep study and analyses of SAP board of party and the standing committees protocol in the light of Olof Palme´s and SAP's ideology. I even use information from literature, inquiries and dissertations. I will mainly focus on Palme´s standpoint during this time. There are the tree question areas and answers in this essay. There is an obvious tension between the two poles of labour movement, the state socialism represented by the social democratic party with a social outlook from above and the movement socialism, represented by the trade union movement with view from below. How did the wage-earners' investment funds stand to this traditional tension? How did Olof Palme remain to it? The answers to these questions are, that Olof Palme was very aware of this tension and he warned the trade union to be too radical. The proposal had a more reformistic formation when it was transmitted from the movement socialistic pole to the state socialistic pole. How did the wage-earners' investment funds fit in democratic socialism? The proposal of the wage-earners' investment funds meant that the function socialistic line, which traditionally was brought by the social democracy, now was changed to the line of ownership. Was it Palmes intention to implement a socialistic society with the help of the wage-earners' investment funds, to be more an a large public sector? The final proposition was a compromise and had lost its radical characteristics. It was never Olof Palme’s intention to implement a socialistic society with the help of the wage-earners' investment funds. How did the wage-earners' investment funds fit in the reformistic point of view? Were they system changing or system preserving, or both? The answer to this in this essay is, that the origin proposal was radical and system changing. The final proposal was both system preserving and system changing.