Saco-S Council
The Saco-S Council at Lund University is a local collaboration body for the Saco-S unions that have members employed by the university. The Saco-S Council negotiates on behalf of all Saco-S members at Lund University.
Published: Wednesday 6 Sep 2023
Last updated: Wednesday 6 Sep 2023
Lund University is one of the largest Swedish government agencies. The union members who belong to a Saco-S union constitute a clear majority at Lund University with more than 4300 members. This makes the Saco-S Council a strong negotiator for our members. Almost all 21 trade unions and professional associations for academics within Saco have members at the university. The five largest Saco-S unions at the university are Sweden's university teachers and researchers (SULF), the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers (SI), Naturvetarna (Na), Akavia and DIK.
The Saco-S Council has representatives of all unions that have members employed at Lund University. The number of members that each union has in the council depends on the number of members at the university.
Each year, the Saco-S Council elects a working board that meets regularly. The Board together with co-opted members meet weekly to discuss and plan the negotiation work. The Board is elected at the annual meeting of the Saco-S Council, which takes place in May. The board will in turn reflect the composition of the Saco-S Council, which usually means that the largest unions are represented. The Board consists of nine members and two deputies.
The Saco-S Council's Board of Directors and those who work at the Saco office are the ones who represent all Saco-S-affiliated staff in negotiations and consultations with the employer. Regardless of department or faculty, we can represent all employed members at Lund University. The negotiations can be individual, local or university-wide. This can apply to both individual members' concrete issues, such as salary setting or dismissal, and issues of a more common nature, such as budget or organisational decisions.
The negotiations may also aim to reach a collective agreement, such as working time agreements and horizontal agreements on health and safety issues. The most common negotiations are collaboration negotiations, where the employer makes a decision after co-determination negotiations. This may be, for example, the annual resource allocation negotiations with the faculty management. All organizational changes or major changes in daily operations must be negotiated according to the MBL before a decision is made.