Trade unions in a changing political context

Abstract

A common feature in almost all Western countries over the last 40 years has been the steady decline in trade union membership and subsequently a decline in the power and influence of unions. Moreover, in many countries trade union strength has relied upon longlasting relationships with social democratic parties or, in a minority of cases, communist parties. The trend over the last decades has been a weakening of traditional ‘working-class’ coalitions. The aim of this article is to discuss to what extent such features also exist in Sweden, a country long regarded as a stronghold of powerful social partners, the so-called Swedish Model. We will show that Sweden is also affected by the wider European trends but that there are important countervailing forces. At the moment, much hinges on the parliamentary election in 2018.

Trade Unions in the European Union

“…During certain periods there were severe tensions between LO and the party, labelled 'the War of the Roses', above all when, during the deep economic crisis in the 1990s, the party abandoned Keynesianism in favour of fighting inflation. Nevertheless, the decoupling of the party and the union movement evident in many other countries is still not very apparent in Sweden (Magnusson 2018). It is telling that in the government, installed in 2014, the former IF Metall president was the Prime Minister until he resigned in November 2021, but the former TCO president was still the Labour Market Minister and a former Saco president continued as the Minister of Education.…”

Just transitions for a new eco-social contract: analysing the relations between welfare regimes and transition pathways

“…Despite the impacts of neoliberal globalisation in recent years and increasing wealth and income inequality, trade union density remains high. While Swedish social democracy has been under attack from national and global neoliberal pressures there is evidence that trade unions, the backbone of that system, still support a social democratic social welfare system based on equality of outcomes rather than opportunities (Ibsen and Thelen, 2017; Magnusson, 2018).…”

Closure, equality or organisation: Trade union responses to EU labour migration

“…By the 1990s, however, collective bargaining was decentralised: agreements would only be negotiated at the branch level and employers abandoned their posts on public agencies. However, in 2004 trade unions still enjoyed a privileged seat at the policymaking table (Magnusson, 2018: 144). Institutional links between LO and SAP are intact at senior levels (Anthonsen et al, 2011).…”

“…Additionally, there has been increasing recourse to inclusion. This is particularly relevant for TCO and Saco, who have ‘transformed themselves from central organisations with a corporatist mission to more of service and lobby organisations’ (Magnusson, 2018: 144). At least one TCO-affiliated union introduced special guest memberships for posted workers (Interview SE1).…”