Social-movement Unionism in Theory and in Sweden

Vandenberg, Andrew

doi:10.1080/14742830600807584

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Other studies also highlight how competitors, and even consumers, have coalesced into an alliance with the union to resist Toys "R" Us' attempts to resist Swedish working life norms in the sector (see, e.g. Ghauri et al 2004;Vandenberg 2006).…”

Section: The Swedish Partnershipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partnering against Insecurity? A Comparison of Markets, Institutions and Worker Risk in Canadian and Swedish Retail

O’Brady

2019

Brit J Industrial Rel

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This article provides insights on how union power influences the outcomes of labour‐management partnerships, with a focus on insecurity. It examines matched pairs of food retailers in Canada and Sweden. Trends in wages, scheduling and union coverage from 1980 to 2016 are compared. Actors in both contexts adopted partnering strategies in response to intensified price competition. However, the Swedish partnerships produced stable work arrangements, while working conditions eroded considerably in Canada. Bargaining structures, union security and identity are examined to explain the variations. As market competition intensified, the Swedish union gained leverage by using partnerships to fight unfair competition and promote sectoral well‐being in the process. Meanwhile, the Canadian union lost leverage, instead using partnerships to align employment practices with those of low‐cost market entrants and enhancing store‐level performance at all costs. The argument is that markets can be a resource for unions, even in low‐skilled service sectors, but only under inclusive institutions.

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Section: The Swedish Partnershipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partnering against Insecurity? A Comparison of Markets, Institutions and Worker Risk in Canadian and Swedish Retail

O’Brady

2019

Brit J Industrial Rel

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“…Swedish unions are not as radical in their political activism as unions in France, Italy or Spain; however, there are plenty of instances of such political engagement. For example, Swedish unions combined strikes with calls for broader consumer boycotts in their Toys 'R' Us dispute in 1994 (Vandenberg 2006), and the Swedish Protest Database 1980-2011 reports on more than 270 demonstrations that were mobilized by the unions, excluding the regular May Day demonstrations . There are no studies comparing the protest activism of different Swedish unions; however, Peterson et al (2012) have used survey data to show that LO members have more experience with joining strikes than the members of the TCO and Saco, while Saco and TCO members have boycotted various products more often than the members of the LO (Peterson et al 2012, p. 640).…”

Section: Unions' Political Activism and Expected Variations In Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade Unions on YouTube

Jansson

Uba

2019

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use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

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“…Swedish unions are not as radical in their political activism as unions in France, Italy or Spain; however, there are plenty of instances of such political engagement. For example, Swedish unions combined strikes with calls for broader consumer boycotts in their Toys 'R' Us dispute in 1994 (Vandenberg 2006), and the Swedish Protest Database 1980-2011 reports on more than 270 demonstrations that were mobilized by the unions, excluding the regular May Day demonstrations (Uba 2016). There are no studies comparing the protest activism of different Swedish unions; however, Peterson et al (2012) have used survey data to show that LO members have more experience with joining strikes than the members of the TCO and Saco, while Saco and TCO members have boycotted various products more often than the members of the LO (Peterson et al 2012, p. 640).…”

Section: Unions' Political Activism and Expected Variations In Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Messages: Political Action—Agenda-Setting, Elections and Protests

Jansson

Uba

2019

Trade Unions on YouTube

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This chapter describes the predominant issues in the YouTube videos uploaded by Swedish trade unions and examines how these messages vary across the three union confederations. We particularly focus on three different forms of political activism: agenda-setting, electoral campaigns and protests. The results demonstrate that political activism does not form a significant part of the Swedish unions' YouTube videos, except during election time, which includes national elections and elections to the EU parliament. It is also shown that working-class unions with historical links to the Social Democratic Party are more politically active than other unions. Keywords Political messages • Agenda-setting • Electoral campaign • Protest By releasing the video 'How to get a raise in 47 seconds' only three days before International Women's Day, the Municipal Workers' Union made a clear political statement (Kommunal 2014, March 5). It has been claimed by scholars of trade union revitalization that this is the route forward: unions must increase their engagement in politics (Baccaro et al. 2003; Hamann and Kelly 2004). It is important not only for unions to engage in narrowly defined employment issues, but also for them to attempt to impact politics in general, since the interests of trade union members are broader than employment-related issues alone; the CHAPTER 3

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Social-movement Unionism in Theory and in Sweden

Cited by 17 publications

References 29 publications

Partnering against Insecurity? A Comparison of Markets, Institutions and Worker Risk in Canadian and Swedish Retail

Partnering against Insecurity? A Comparison of Markets, Institutions and Worker Risk in Canadian and Swedish Retail

Trade Unions on YouTube

Messages: Political Action—Agenda-Setting, Elections and Protests

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