Birgitta Nyström

Final decision in the Laval case

The swedish Labour court (ad) has, on 2 december 2009, made the final decision in the famous Laval case.1 after the European court of Justice’s (EcJ) decision in december 2007 there was not very much left for the swedish court to decide about. it was primarily a question about damages – a question that turned out to be rather complicated. it is not difficult to understand that the Laval case has been heavily discussed in sweden. The EcJ’s decision hits some of the very fundamental aspects of swedish labour law and industrial relations. but the Laval case has attracted much interest also from other countries within the Eu, and also – perhaps more surprisingly – from lawyers outside the union. Nevertheless, it is probably appropriate to give a short introduction to the case. The dispute in the Laval case originated from industrial action taken 2005 by the swedish construction Workers’ union after they had demanded a collective agreement with the Latvian undertaking Laval, which had posted building workers to sweden. The swedish unions used the usual procedure in sweden in order to try and get employers to conclude a collective agreement: The local section of the swedish building Workers’ union contacted Laval with a view to conclude a collective agreement, negotiations began, but the parties were unable to reach an agreement. (instead Laval signed a collective agreement with the Latvian building sector’s trade union.) in November 2004 the swedish building Workers’ union initiated industrial action, including a ban on all building and installation work on Laval’s workplaces. in december 2004 the Electricians’ union initiated sympathy (secondary) action in support of the building Workers’ union. in december 2004 Laval commenced proceedings before the swedish Labour court claiming that the court should declare the industrial action illegal and order that the action should cease. The Labour court dismissed Laval’s application for an interim order on 22 december 20042, and decided