Swedish Trade Union Confederation

The Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Swedish: Landsorganisationen i Sverige [ˈlânː(d)sɔrɡanɪsaˌɧuːnɛn iː ˈsvæ̌rjɛ] ⓘ; literally "The National Organisation in Sweden"), commonly referred to as LO (Swedish: [ˈɛ̂lːuː] ⓘ), is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fourteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-collar" workers. The Confederation, which gathers in total about 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.[1] In 2019 union density of Swedish blue-collar workers was 60%,[2] a decline by seventeen percentage points since 2006 (blue-collar union density in 2006: 77%). A strongly contributing factor was the considerably raised fees to union unemployment funds in January 2007 made by the new centre-right government.[3][4]

Swedish Trade Union Confederation
Landsorganisationen i Sverige (LO)
Founded7 August 1898 (1898-08-07)
HeadquartersStockholm, Sweden
Location
Members
1.23 million
Key people
Susanna Gideonsson, president
AffiliationsITUC, ETUC
Websitewww.lo.se

Organisation
LO-borgen (Swedish: 'the LO-castle'), the landmark LO headquarters building by Swedish architect Ferdinand Boberg, at Norra Bantorget in Stockholm. 59°20′8.9″N 18°3′17.2″E

The fourteen affiliates of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation span both the private and the public sector.[5] 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.[6] Until recently, it owned 50.1% of the evening newspaper Aftonbladet, the largest daily newspaper in Scandinavia (as of 2005). As of 2012, the organisation owns 9% of the newspaper. The organisation bought Aftonbladet in 1956 but sold off 49.9 percent to the Norwegian media company Schibsted on 2 May 1996.

The number of member unions have been reduced by mergers. Most recently the Forest and Wood Workers' Union and the Graphic Workers' Union merged into the single union GS Union on 1 June 2009.

Affiliates

Current affiliates
Membership of LO affiliates (31 December 2018)[7]
Union Abbreviation Founded Men Women Total Change (2017)
Swedish Building Workers' Union Byggnads 1949 77 512 1 218 78 730 Increase 409
Swedish Electricians' Union SEF 1906 18 518 456 18 974 Decrease 333
Swedish Building Maintenance Workers' Union Fastighets 1936 13 624 12 700 26 324 Decrease 718
GS GS 2009 31 987 6 861 38 848 Decrease 1 096
Swedish Commercial Employees' Union Handels 1906 45 665 77 672 123 337 Decrease 1 001
Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union HRF 1918 10 949 16 017 26 966 Decrease 921
IF Metall IF Metal 2006 200 292 46 543 246 835 Decrease 305
Swedish Municipal Workers' Union Kommunal 1910 108 426 391 728 500 154 Decrease 7 333
Swedish Food Workers' Union Livs 1922 15 317 8 041 23 358 Decrease 1 062
Swedish Painters' Union Målarna 1887 9 833 1 277 11 110 Increase 47
Swedish Paper Workers' Union Pappers 1920 11 722 2 190 13 912 Decrease 370
Swedish Union for Service and Communications Employees Seko 1970 53 981 18 175 72 156 Decrease 960
Swedish Musicians' Union SMF 1907 1 805 469 2 274 Decrease 13
Swedish Transport Workers' Union Transport 1897 41 494 8 343 49 837 Decrease 1 889
TOTAL 641 125 591 690 1 232 815 Decrease 15 575
52% 48% Decrease 1.25%

Former affiliates
UnionAbbreviation[8]FoundedLeftReason not affiliatedMembership (1910)[9]Membership (1954)[10]
Employees' Union of State Power StationsKPF19211970Merged into SEKON/A1,173
State Hospital Personnel UnionSSF19081967Merged into Kommunal3477,928
Stockholm Union of Sculptors18961910Dissolved32N/A
Swedish Agricultural Workers' UnionSLF19082001Merged into Kommunal1,75238,980
Swedish Bakery and Confectionery Workers' UnionBageri18961922Merged into Livs3,168N/A
Swedish Boilermakers' UnionSDF19031948Merged into Fabriks154N/A
Swedish Bookbinders' UnionSBbaf18931973Merged into GF1,17611,391
Swedish Brewery Industry Workers' UnionSBiaf18991965Merged into Livs2,0457,939
Swedish Bricklayers' UnionMurare18901961Merged into Byggnads4,08215,594
Swedish Building Wood Workers' UnionBtaf19241949Merged into ByggnadsN/AN/A
Swedish Butchers' UnionSlakteri19041922Merged into Livs321N/A
Swedish Chimney Sweeps' UnionSSf19191981Merged into KommunalN/A963
Swedish Civil Administration's Employees' UnionCPF19051970Merged into SEKO2206,676
Swedish Clothing Workers' UnionSBaf18891972Merged into Beklädnads2,09137,959
Swedish Cooperage UnionTunnbinderi18921936Merged into Trä314N/A
Swedish Defence Forces Civilian Employees' UnionFCPF19171970Merged into SEKON/A20,016
Swedish Factory Workers' UnionFabriks18911993Merged into IF20,19563,086
Swedish Forest and Wood Workers' UnionSkogs- o Trä19982009Merged into GSN/AN/A
Swedish Forest Workers' UnionSSAF19181998Merged into Skogs- o TräN/A36,486
Swedish Foundry Workers' UnionGjutare18931964Merged into Metall2,58811,408
Swedish Gilders' and Glaziers' UnionFörgylleri o Glas19001913Dissolved282N/A
Swedish Graphic Workers' UnionGF19732009Merged into GSN/AN/A
Swedish Industrial UnionIF19932006Merged into IF MetallN/AN/A
Swedish Hairdressers' UnionFAF19061989Merged into Handels464,407
Swedish Hat and Fur Workers' UnionHatt o Päls19221933Merged into SBafN/AN/A
Swedish Hat Workers' UnionHatt19031922Merged into Hatt o Päls117N/A
Swedish Lithographic UnionLitograf19041973Merged into GF2404,712
Swedish Metalworkers' UnionMetall18882006Merged into IF Metall30,826234,157
Swedish Miners' UnionGruv18951994Merged into Metall2,44211,939
Swedish Post UnionSPF18861970Merged into SEKO2,65817,986
Swedish Prison Employees' UnionVårdpers19061970Merged into SEKO4961,557
Swedish Pulp Operators' UnionSP19201946Merged into PappersN/AN/A
Swedish Railway Employees' UnionSJMF18991970Merged into SEKO18,02264,834
Swedish Road Workers' UnionSVaf19141970Merged into SEKON/A16,640
Swedish Saddlemakers' and Upholsterers' UnionSSoT18901962Dissolved6665,573
Swedish Sailors' UnionSSF19321996Merged into SEKON/A14,487
Swedish Saw Mill Industry Workers UnionSågverks18971949Merged into SSAF3,732N/A
Swedish Sheet Metal Workers' UnionSBOP18932000Merged into Byggnads1,5123,505
Swedish Shoe and Leather Workers' UnionSSoL18881972Merged into Beklädnads3,52810,882
Swedish Social Insurance Employees' and Insurance Agents' UnionFF19182002DisaffiliatedN/A7,947
Swedish Stone Industry Workers' UnionSten18971970Dissolved3,0535,328
Swedish Stucco Workers' UnionStuckatör19041948Dissolved53N/A
Swedish Tele UnionSvT19011970Merged into SEKO70520,718
Swedish Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' UnionBeklädnads19721993Merged into IFN/AN/A
Swedish Textile Workers' UnionTextil18981972Merged into Beklädnads3,44341,864
Swedish Tile and Slab Workers' UnionSKoP18911946Merged into Fabriks428N/A
Swedish Tobacco Industry Workers' UnionTobaks18891964Merged into Livs1,9101,784
Swedish Typographers' UnionTypograf18861973Merged into GF4,02215,804
Swedish Wood Industry Workers' UnionTrä19241998Merged into Skogs- o TräN/A60,321
Swedish Wood Workers' UnionTrä18891924Dissolved7,972N/A
Union of Waiters of the Göteborgssystem in StockholmGSSF19051910Dissolved125N/A
United UnionsDFF19051962Dissolved1,70714,687

List of chairmen

See also

References
  1. Torvald Karlbom Den svenska fackföreningsrörelsen, Stockholm: Tidens förlag, pp. 45-47
  2. 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
  3. Anders Kjellberg "The Decline in Swedish Union Density since 2007" Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies (NJWLS) Vol. 1. No 1 (August 2011), pp. 67-93
  4. Anders 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
  5. "This is LO". The Swedish Trade Union Confederation. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  6. Ingemar Oscarsson (2003). "Development of the Swedish press and journalism since the Thirty Years War until today". In Hartmut Walravens; Edmund King (eds.). Newspapers in International Librarianship: Papers Presented by the Newspaper Section at IFLA General Conferences. Munich: IFLA Publications. p. 18. ISBN 978-3-11-096279-6.
  7. Kjellberg, Anders (2017). "The Membership Development of Swedish Trade Unions and Union Confederations Since the End of the Nineteenth Century" (PDF). Lund University. p. 188. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  8. Kjellberg, Anders (2017). The Membership Development of Swedish Trade Unions and Union Confederations Since the End of the Nineteenth Century. Lund University. ISBN 978-9172673106.
  9. Kjellberg, Anders (2017). The Membership Development of Swedish Trade Unions and Union Confederations Since the End of the Nineteenth Century. Lund University. p. 198. ISBN 978-9172673106.
  10. Mitchell, James P. (1955). Directory of Labor Organizations: Europe. Washington DC: United States Department of Labor. pp. 27.19–27.34.
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