Swedish Trade Union Confederation

The Swedish Trade Union Confederation (, ), commonly referred to as LO, is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for thirteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-collar" workers. The Confederation, which gathers around 1.5 million employees out of Sweden's 10 million people population, was founded in 1898 by blue-collar unions on the initiative of the 1897 Scandinavian Labour Congress and the Swedish Social Democratic Party, which almost exclusively was made up by trade unions.Torvald Karlbom Den svenska fackföreningsrörelsen, Stockholm: Tidens förlag, pp. 45-47 In 2019 union density of Swedish blue-collar workers was 60%,Yearly average in 2019. See Anders Kjellberg (2020) Kollektivavtalens täckningsgrad samt organisationsgraden hos arbetsgivarförbund och fackförbund, Department of Sociology, Lund University. Studies in Social Policy, Industrial Relations, Working Life and Mobility. Research Reports 2020:1, Appendix 3 (in English) Table A a decline by seventeen percentage points since 2006 when blue-collar union density was 77%. A strong contributing factor was the considerably raised fees to union unemployment funds in January 2007 made by the new centre-right government.Anders Kjellberg "The Decline in Swedish Union Density since 2007" Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies (NJWLS) Vol. 1. No 1 (August 2011), pp. 67-93Anders Kjellberg and Christian Lyhne Ibsen (2016) "Attacks on union organizing: Reversible and irreversible changes to the Ghent-systems in Sweden and Denmark", in Trine Pernille Larsen and Anna Ilsøe (eds.)(2016) Den Danske Model set udefra - komparative perspektiver på dansk arbejdsmarkedsregulering, Copenhagen: Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag, p. 292

History

Organisation

The thirteen affiliates of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation span both the private and the public sector. The member unions are fully independent, with the role of the Confederation limited to the co-ordination of wage bargaining, international activities, trade union education and other areas. Another important task is to promote the organisation's views to decision-makers and the general public. It also has representatives on the governing bodies of many government authorities. The Confederation is also responsible for research and signing labour market insurance schemes. The member unions, however, carry the responsibility for the administration of the unemployment insurance funds.

While its Danish sister organisation, the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, cut its formal ties to the country's Social Democratic party in 1995, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation maintains a strong cooperation with the Social Democrats. Although the organisations are independent from each other, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation has a representative on the party's executive committee elected by the Party Congress. Also, both the Confederation and the member unions contribute substantial amounts of money to the party.

Until 1987 there was a system of collective membership in the Social Democratic Party for members in the confederation, in which the local union could apply for membership in the Social Democratic Party, effectively enrolling all its members into the Social Democratic Party. (An individual could decline to be part of this collective membership.)

In 1956 social democratic newspaper Stockholms-Tidningen was acquired by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. Until recently, it owned 50.1% of the evening newspaper , the largest daily newspaper in Scandinavia (). As of 2012, the organisation owns 9% of the newspaper. The organisation bought in 1956 but sold off 49.9 percent to the Norwegian media company Schibsted on 2 May 1996.

The number of member unions has been reduced by mergers. Most recently the Swedish Painters' Union merged into the Swedish Building Workers' Union in May 2024

Affiliates Current affiliates +Membership of LO affiliates (31 December 2018)UnionAbbreviationFoundedMenWomenTotalChange (2017)Swedish Building Workers' UnionByggnads194977 5121 21878 730 409Swedish Electricians' UnionSEF190618 51845618 974 333Swedish Building Maintenance Workers' UnionFastighets193613 62412 70026 324 718GSGS200931 9876 86138 848 1 096Swedish Commercial Employees' UnionHandels190645 66577 672123 337 1 001Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Workers' UnionHRF191810 94916 01726 966 921IF MetallIF Metal2006200 29246 543246 835 305Swedish Municipal Workers' UnionKommunal1910108 426391 728500 154 7 333Swedish Food Workers' UnionLivs192215 3178 04123 358 1 062Swedish Paper Workers' UnionPappers192011 7222 19013 912 370Swedish Union for Service and Communications EmployeesSeko197053 98118 17572 156 960Swedish Musicians' UnionSMF19071 8054692 274 13Swedish Transport Workers' UnionTransport189741 4948 34349 837 1 889TOTAL641 125591 6901 232 815 15 575

Former affiliates Union Abbreviation Founded Left Reason not affiliated Membership (1910) Membership (1954)Swedish Painters' UnionMålarna18872024Merged into Byggnads colspan=2 Employees' Union of State Power Stations KPF 1921 1970 Merged into SEKO 1,173 State Hospital Personnel Union SSF 1908 1967 Merged into Kommunal 347 7,928 Stockholm Union of Sculptors 1896 1910 Dissolved 32 ' Swedish Agricultural Workers' Union SLF 1908 2001 Merged into Kommunal 1,752 38,980 Swedish Bakery and Confectionery Workers' Union Bageri 1896 1922 Merged into Livs 3,168 Swedish Boilermakers' Union SDF 1903 1948 Merged into Fabriks 154 Swedish Bookbinders' Union SBbaf 1893 1973 Merged into GF 1,176 11,391 Swedish Brewery Industry Workers' Union SBiaf 1899 1965 Merged into Livs 2,045 7,939 Swedish Bricklayers' Union Murare 1890 1961 Merged into Byggnads 4,082 15,594 Swedish Building Wood Workers' Union Btaf 1924 1949 Merged into Byggnads colspan=2 Swedish Butchers' Union Slakteri 1904 1922 Merged into Livs 321 Swedish Chimney Sweeps' Union SSf 1919 1981 Merged into Kommunal 963 Swedish Civil Administration's Employees' Union CPF 1905 1970 Merged into SEKO 220 6,676 Swedish Clothing Workers' Union SBaf 1889 1972 Merged into Beklädnads 2,091 37,959 Swedish Cooperage Union Tunnbinderi 1892 1936 Merged into Trä 314 Swedish Defence Forces Civilian Employees' Union FCPF 1917 1970 Merged into SEKO 20,016 Swedish Factory Workers' Union Fabriks 1891 1993 Merged into IF 20,195 63,086 Swedish Forest and Wood Workers' Union Skogs- o Trä 1998 2009 Merged into GS colspan=2 Swedish Forest Workers' Union SSAF 1918 1998 Merged into Skogs- o Trä 36,486 Swedish Foundry Workers' Union Gjutare 1893 1964 Merged into Metall 2,588 11,408 Swedish Gilders' and Glaziers' Union Förgylleri o Glas 1900 1913 Dissolved 282 Swedish Graphic Workers' Union GF 1973 2009 Merged into GS colspan=2 Swedish Industrial Union IF 1993 2006 Merged into IF Metall colspan=2 Swedish Hairdressers' Union FAF 1906 1989 Merged into Handels 46 4,407 Swedish Hat and Fur Workers' Union Hatt o Päls 1922 1933 Merged into SBaf colspan=2 Swedish Hat Workers' Union Hatt 1903 1922 Merged into Hatt o Päls 117 Swedish Lithographic Union Litograf 1904 1973 Merged into GF 240 4,712 Swedish Metalworkers' Union Metall 1888 2006 Merged into IF Metall 30,826 234,157 Swedish Miners' Union Gruv 1895 1994 Merged into Metall 2,442 11,939 Swedish Post Union SPF 1886 1970 Merged into SEKO 2,658 17,986 Swedish Prison Employees' Union Vårdpers 1906 1970 Merged into SEKO 496 1,557 Swedish Pulp Operators' Union SP 1920 1946 Merged into Pappers colspan=2 Swedish Railway Employees' Union SJMF 1899 1970 Merged into SEKO 18,022 64,834 Swedish Road Workers' Union SVaf 1914 1970 Merged into SEKO 16,640 Swedish Saddlemakers' and Upholsterers' Union SSoT 1890 1962 Dissolved 666 5,573 Swedish Sailors' Union SSF 1932 1996 Merged into SEKO 14,487 Swedish Saw Mill Industry Workers Union Sågverks 1897 1949 Merged into SSAF 3,732 Swedish Sheet Metal Workers' Union SBOP 1893 2000 Merged into Byggnads 1,512 3,505 Swedish Shoe and Leather Workers' Union SSoL 1888 1972 Merged into Beklädnads 3,528 10,882 Swedish Social Insurance Employees' and Insurance Agents' Union FF 1918 2002 Disaffiliated 7,947 Swedish Stone Industry Workers' Union Sten 1897 1970 Dissolved 3,053 5,328 Swedish Stucco Workers' Union Stuckatör 1904 1948 Dissolved 53 Swedish Tele Union SvT 1901 1970 Merged into SEKO 705 20,718 Swedish Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Union Beklädnads 1972 1993 Merged into IF colspan=2 Swedish Textile Workers' Union Textil 1898 1972 Merged into Beklädnads 3,443 41,864 Swedish Tile and Slab Workers' Union SKoP 1891 1946 Merged into Fabriks 428 Swedish Tobacco Industry Workers' Union Tobaks 1889 1964 Merged into Livs 1,910 1,784 Swedish Typographers' Union Typograf 1886 1973 Merged into GF 4,022 15,804 Swedish Wood Industry Workers' Union Trä 1924 1998 Merged into Skogs- o Trä 60,321 Swedish Wood Workers' Union Trä 1889 1924 Dissolved 7,972 Union of Waiters of the Göteborgssystem in Stockholm GSSF 1905 1910 Dissolved 125 United Unions DFF 1905 1962 Dissolved 1,707 14,687

List of chairmen Fredrik Sterky, 1898–1900 Herman Lindqvist, 1900–1920 Arvid Thorberg, 1920–1930 Edvard Johanson, 1930–1936 Albert Forslund, February–September 1936 August Lindberg, 1936–1947 Axel Strand, 1947–1956 Arne Geijer, 1956–1973 Gunnar Nilsson, 1973–1983 Stig Malm, 1983–1993 Bertil Jonsson, 1994–2000 Wanja Lundby-Wedin, 2000–2012 Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, 2012–2020 Susanna Gideonsson, 2020–2024 Johan Lindholm, 2024–present

Swedish Trade Union Confederation

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