Declining union density rates have been and continue to be an ongoing issue and worry around the world. In Sweden, union density remains high in comparison to other countries, although not an exception to the declining rates which have largely encompassed young workers. The objective of this study is to research two phenomena that have been identified as influences surrounding why young workers do not become unionised. The research questions are 1. Can individualistic attitudes be linked to the decline in union density among young workers, if so how? and 2. Can employer resistance towards trade unionism be linked to the decline in union density among young workers, if so how?.There are substantial amounts of quantitative research devoted to trying to understand the decline, which motivated writing a report with a qualitative approach. Focus was put on the thoughts and views of six young individuals who are all involved with three Swedish trade unions, HRF, Handels and Seko. The results of the study revealed that both individualistic attitudes and employer resistance can be linked to declining union density rates among youths. Individualistic attitudes were analysed alongside Allvin and Sverke’s theories on the ‘era of individualisation’, which includes declining preparedness to participate in collective movements, the belief in the efficacy of the self and autonomous attitudes towards institutions. Individualistic attitudes that were conferred in the interviews revolved around matters such as young workers not being able to identify themselves with trade unions and their officials. Employer resistance methods were discussed in line with, among others, Brulin’s theory on the work place as a political arena, where employers and trade unions battle for the loyalty of the employees. Resistance towards trade unions seem to appear in various forms and different methods are used in order to obstruct individuals from becoming or remaining unionised. This includes subtle threats and ostracism from managers and co-workers and unmotivated changes of rosters.

In a dynamic world of constant changes, social and technological developments have made crisis communication and crisis management more valuable than ever to organisations. Previous research has suggested that organisations with a certain entrusting relationship to stakeholders might not share premises for crisis communication with corporate organisations. Furthermore, the field of crisis communication suffers from a lack of studies focusing on organisations´ communication on social media during crisis. Using text analysis, this study investigates the Swedish trade union Kommunal’s communication on Facebook during the crisis in January 2016. Results show that Kommunal did not utilize a crisis frame similar enough to the crisis frame used by stakeholders and media, and that Kommunal did not accept enough stakeholder and media attributions of crisis responsibility. The results produces questions for further research about the balancing act between being consistent and adjusting to the crisis situation when communicating during crisis, as well as about if organisations are affected not only by their own crisis history and prior relationship reputation, but by the crisis history and prior relationship reputation of similar organisations as well.

Sweden’s social and labor policy have been influenced by strong labor movements. The role of trade unions is of significance, when speaking of labor market integration of refugee immigrants. This study aimed to examine how the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, LO, supports integration of refugee immigrants on the Swedish labor market. Through semi-structured interviews with representatives from LO, reasons of exclusion of refugee immigrants from the labor market, strategies to integrate refugee immigrants on the labor market and current policies regarding integration of refugee immigrants, were investigated. The empirical data was analyzed using theoretical frameworks of social exclusion, empowerment and Esping-Andersen’s categorization of welfare state regimes. According to the LO representatives, refugee immigrants are excluded from the Swedish labor market due to reasons such as lack of language skills, discriminatory unemployment and segregated housing conditions. The results show that there is a lack of strategies used by LO to integrate refugee immigrants on the labor market, although elements of providing information and forms of influence for conscientizing and empowerment have been identified. Removing administrative barriers combined with protection of collective agreements and the solidary welfare state system are identified as important for a successful integration on the labor market. The findings are related to the shift of Sweden’s welfare state, from a universal to a more liberal one.

anglicky This thesis analyzes position of trade unions as legal entities, i.e. trying to describe the features of a trade union as a legal entity and its position in the legal system. Study of trade unions from this point of view hasn't been explored too much, trade unions are traditionally seen through their functions as a subject of the social dialogue, yet the basic question of what a trade union actually is in terms of the type of legal entity, is not clear. Qualification of trade union as a legal entity is based on several aspects, each of whom is dedicated to one part of this work. The first chapter deals with definition of collective labor law, which is closely linked with a term trade union. Next part is relatively extensive historical excursion, which allows a better understanding of roots of the current understanding of this topic. Another important aspect of the legal regulation are international instruments, which protect the right of association and concretize particular aspects of this area. This protection is also reflected in the constitution of the Czech Republic. Recently new Civil Code, which has become a key standard for the regulation of trade union organizations, came into force and it is very important to understand the legislative process of this act in which delegates of...

O trabalho analisa o processo de oposição ao governo Vargas, com enfoque sobre as relações entre Estado e classe trabalhadora no período 1943/45. Destaca os aspectos específicos da política social e sindical, definidos pelo trabalhismo, e a forma como estarão situados na conjuntura de crise ao fim do Estado Novo. Tendo por objeto primordial da análise o discurso antigovernamental, situa a imprensa como locus estratégico para o desenvolvimento dessa oposição que levaria ao fim o primeiro governo Vargas. / The work analyses the process of opposition against Vargas\' government, focusing on the relationship between the State and the working-class in the years between 1943 and 1945. It emphasises the specific aspects of the social and the Union politics defined by the labour movement and the way in which they will be situated in the crisis circumstances at the end of the \"Estado Novo\". As the main purpose of the analysis is the anti-governmental speech, the press is placed as the strategic locus for the development of this opposition which would put an end to the first Vargas\' government.

This thesis focuses on the relationship between job satisfaction and union membership of long day care employees in Melbourne and Sydney, and uses the exit-voice/union-voice model as an analytical framework. The data includes surveys of child-care staff and students enrolled in child-care courses, interviews with child-care staff, union officials and employer representatives, and official documentation. While child-care workers report high levels of job satisfaction, it is argued that the considerable ‘exit voice’ of the survey respondents is a demonstration of job dissatisfaction. The reported levels of satisfaction are a manifestation of satisfaction with the intrinsic features of the work (child development outcomes) and the limited employment opportunities of females generally. The exit voice is a manifestation of dissatisfaction with the extrinsic features of the job (pay and career advancement). The thesis failed to detect evidence of a strong relationship between job (dis)satisfaction and union membership, due to the ‘caring profession syndrome’, a perceived lack of union instrumentality, and problems associated with the ability of unions to recruit and organise an industry consisting of over 4,000 small workplaces. The findings show that both staff and students are highly sympathetic towards unions, that working in child-care changes attitudes about work but not unions, and that there exists a strong union voice among child-care workers despite the relative low levels of union membership. The thesis discusses the implications for union organisation so that the supply of union membership might correspond with the demands for this membership, particularly in regard to employee motivations and commitments. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This dissertation binds together and draws conclusions from a research project concerning conditions surrounding the growth of a bureaucratic element in large (union) organisations. In order to promote a wider knowledge of these conditions, a study was made of the great constitutional reform which the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions underwent in 1941. An attempt was made to find the main driving force behind that constitutional reform.The study was drawn up as a case-study. The method is primarily historical-sociological. The data is primarily drawn from official sources and from the organisations. The results of a number of empirical studies are summarized.On a concrete level, it is possible to trace the Confederation's great constitutional reform back to conflicts between the Government and organisations operating within the labour market during the economic crisis at the beginning of the 1930's. The Government asserted its position in relation to the Labour organisations, and, as a last resort, threatened them with legislation. The putting through of the Saltsjöbaden Agreement between the Swedish Employers' Association and the Confederation of Trade Unions in 1938, with its subsequent changes towards authoritative centralisation in the Confederations1 s constitution, took the place of the legislation in question.On a more general level, centralisation and a reduction in membership influence may be seen as the price to be paid for the Confederation's method of adjusting itself to the development needs of a capitalist economic system. Within the Confederation of Trade Unions, a conflict developed between, on the one hand, the demands of members and the task of functioning as an organ of union struggle, and on the other, the demands of economic politics. These two demands were not always in harmony.The result of the case-study may thus be seen to be generally applicable on the causal side, in the restrictions which a capitalist economy's development, and the conditions of stabilisation politics, tended to set upon union activity (regarding conflict tactics and wage-policies). On the effect side, the results of the case-study are not generally appi i-cable. From the Government's side, conceivable measures in the face of conflict may include direct compulsion, informal appeals, or total passivity. From the organisation's side, possible reactions may range from voluntary cooperation to open conflict and struggle against the state. The main Swedish union organisations have, except in rare instances, cooperated voluntarily - under the latent threat of state intervention. The price, from the Confederation's side, has included a reduction of membership influence concerning conflict tactics and wage-policies.At the organisational level, this development has probably worked along with pressure from the Swedish Employers's Association, advantages to be gained from large-scale operation, and the need to find ways to solve inner conflicts, concerning, among other things, the enactment of the solidarity wage-policy under the restrictions mentioned above. Even the "inner dynamic" in large organisations, as identified by Robert Michels, has probably contributed to the total result. / digitalisering@umu

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FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico / A pesquisa analisa o processo de organizaÃÃo dos trabalhadores rurais no municÃpio de Crato, no estado do CearÃ, entre os anos de 1960 â 1970, perÃodo no qual se deu o surgimento dos primeiros nÃcleos sindicalistas rurais do Cariri cearense. SÃo esses sindicatos que, de alguma forma, abrem espaÃo para as reivindicaÃÃes daqueles homens e mulheres, nutrindo e criando vÃnculos onde permitia-se a troca de experiÃncias por parte dos mesmos e a visualizaÃÃo das peculiaridades vividas por cada um. As interpretaÃÃes aqui elaboradas procuraram distanciar-se e seguir caminhos diversos daqueles seguidos pelos que tentaram analisar a histÃria agrÃria da regiÃo do Cariri, baseados na visÃo de que esses sujeitos sociais seriam incapazes de se organizar, definindo suas formas prÃprias de aÃÃo, ou de que eles seriam meros sustentÃculos de determinadas instituiÃÃes, como a Igreja, os sindicatos e partidos. O nosso interesse à compreender como se modelaram os elementos bÃsicos da organizaÃÃo sÃcio-econÃmica desses trabalhadores, e entender as relaÃÃes sociais de trabalho inseridas naquele espaÃo, cujas nuances refletiam-se diretamente em suas vidas. / This research analyzes the process of organization of rural workers in Crato, in the State of CearÃ, between 1960 and 1970: period in which the first nuclei of rural trade unions appeared in the micro region of Cariri. It is these trade unions that somehow make room for the claims of those men and women, nurturing and linking their experiences, and giving us a view of the peculiarities of their lives. The interpretations developed here follow a different approach from that of those who analyzed Caririâs agrarian history. We based this work on a view that these social subjects would hardly organize themselves and define their own activities, and on the idea that they cannot be seen as a mere support for certain institutions like the Church, trade unions and political parties. Our interest is to understand how they formed and fashioned the basic elements of their socio-economic organization, and to comprehend the social relations of their work, whose nuances reflected directly in their lives.

O trabalho analisa o processo de oposição ao governo Vargas, com enfoque sobre as relações entre Estado e classe trabalhadora no período 1943/45. Destaca os aspectos específicos da política social e sindical, definidos pelo trabalhismo, e a forma como estarão situados na conjuntura de crise ao fim do Estado Novo. Tendo por objeto primordial da análise o discurso antigovernamental, situa a imprensa como locus estratégico para o desenvolvimento dessa oposição que levaria ao fim o primeiro governo Vargas. / The work analyses the process of opposition against Vargas\' government, focusing on the relationship between the State and the working-class in the years between 1943 and 1945. It emphasises the specific aspects of the social and the Union politics defined by the labour movement and the way in which they will be situated in the crisis circumstances at the end of the \"Estado Novo\". As the main purpose of the analysis is the anti-governmental speech, the press is placed as the strategic locus for the development of this opposition which would put an end to the first Vargas\' government.