The Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen i Sverige or LO) an umbrella organisation for sixteen Swedish trade unions that organise "blue collar" workers. The Confederation, which gathers in total almost two million employees, was founded in 1898 by members of the Swedish Social Democratic Party.

The sixteen 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 representatatives 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, carries 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.

Swedish unions have traditionally had a high organisation rate. Between 80 and 85 percent of the employees within the Swedish Trade Union Confederation's area of organsiation are union members.

The Swedish Trade Union Confederation owns 50.1 percent of the evening newspaper Aftonbladet, the largest daily newspaper in Scandinavia (as of 2005). The organization bought Aftonbladet in 1956 but sold off 49.9 percent to Norwegian media company Schibsted on May 2, 1996.

The Industrial Union and the Metalworkers' Union, today two separate organizations, has decided to merge into a single union. The merger, effective on January 1, 2006, will reduce the number of affiliates in the confederation to fifteen.

Affiliates

1. Building Maintenance Workers' Union (Fastighetsanställdas Förbund)
2. Building Workers' Union (Svenska Byggnadsarbetareförbundet)
3. Commercial Employees' Union (Handelsanställdas Förbund or "Handels")
4. Electricians' Union (Svenska Elektrikerförbundet)
5. Food Workers' Union (Svenska Livsmedelsarbetareförbundet)
6. Forest and Wood Workers' Union (Skogs- och Träfacket)
7. Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union (Hotell och Restaurang Facket)
8. Graphic Workers' Union (Grafiska Fackförbundet - Mediafacket)
9. • Industrial Union (Industrifacket)
   • Metalworkers' Union (Svenska Metallindustriarbetareförbundet or "Metall")
10. Municipal Workers' Union (Svenska Kommunalarbetareförbundet or "Kommunal")
11. Musicians' Union (Svenska Musikerförbundet)
12. Painters' Union (Svenska Målareförbundet)
13. Paper Workers' Union (Svenska Pappersindustriarbetareförbundet or "Pappers")
14. Transport Workers' Union (Svenska Transportarbetareförbundet or "Transport")
15. Union for Service and Communications Employees (Facket för Service och Kommunikation or SEKO)

See also

• Norwegian Trade Union Confederation (The Norwegian LO)
• Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (TCO)

External link

• Swedish Trade Union Confederation - Official site