#kollektivavtal
This is a full archive copy of the inaugural post I wrote for the #kollektivavtal Slack channel at Spotify. On November 14, 2022 I created this channel and then copypasted in this pre-written text to try to start it off on the right foot.
It's time to move towards getting a collective agreement in place, like the majority of other workers in Sweden already have. Slido questions and ad-hoc Google doc petitions have served us well over the years, but the company's outgrown them: there are so many of us that it's become chaotic. We've become a large company, and now's the time to stop muddling along with a small company approach to these conversations. Going forward, the structure and leverage of a collective agreement is the way for us to influence how our working conditions evolve during the uncertain times ahead.
I personally have a lot of confidence in the current senior leadership team and I think they're genuinely committed to the Swedish values of Spotify's employer branding. That's the reason I feel comfortable posting this despite the stigma that exists around this topic in other countries: I don't anticipate any San Francisco-style unpleasantness. That's partly because collective agreements are as Swedish as julmust and parental equality and therefore an opportunity to develop the Spotify employer brand to a new level, but also because I think it's clear it's the right way to scale these conversations after this year of dizzying headcount growth.
In the short term, a collective agreement can also provide protection for benefits such as paid parental leave, which are otherwise theoretically vulnerable to being cut in favor of investments elsewhere. In the long term, it can even provide some continuity between senior leadership teams, by limiting how drastically a new CEO - for example - can change our working conditions.
I want to be clear that I don't believe any such changes are imminent, and that if they were, we'd be starting this process too late now anyway. But none of us has a crystal ball with which to make guarantees about what will or won't happen in the future, and especially not given the current macroeconomic context. In fact I believe this is another reason why a collective agreement could be welcomed by both sides: our current senior leadership team are sincere about the values underpinning the working conditions here at Spotify, and a collective agreement takes certain options off the table that investors may otherwise pressure them to consider if - for example - we have a bad series of quarterly results.
If you're on board with the idea. Join Unionen now if you're not already a member. There are other unions out there too, and membership in those also helps, but Unionen is the biggest, most inclusive choice, and a safe bet. If you're in Sweden on a work permit, look into guest membership. If you have any questions or thoughts, let's discuss them here in this channel. I know many of you have wanted a collective agreement for some time but are perhaps a little nervous about it, and I hope I've convinced you it's not as adversarial or conspiratorial as you might have thought. but if not. I'm also available to talk in private. I'm gonna get Unionen on the phone ASAP to discuss next steps, and if there's anything to share l'll post it here, so be sure to join the channel if you're interested!