Meidner plan

The Wage Earners Funds Proposal, also known as the Meidner plan, was a Swedish plan to establish wage earner funds that would have gradually shifted the ownership in medium to large companies from employers to workers. It was first proposed in 1975 by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (or the LO); a revised final draft was publicized in 1976. The Meidner plan gets its name from the economist Rudolf Meidner, who was the principal drafter of the plan.

In 1971, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (or the LO) commissioned a research committee to address union concerns about wages and the state of the economy. Despite the solidarity wage policy (also known as the Rehn-Meidner model) in place at the time, the gap in income between capital and labor was growing; the country was also experiencing a wave of labor unrest over pay. In particular, the Federation of Metal Workers stressed that the problems of investment planning and capital formation needed to be resolved without increasing the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a minority. The research committee was headed by Meidner and produced its first report in 1975.