Trade Unions’ Protest Cycles in Sweden, 1980–2020

Abstract

After the mid-1990s, work stoppages have become rare in Sweden. These changes are not unique to Sweden or the Nordic countries: strikes and lockouts have decreased across Europe.However, strikes are only one form of protest that unions can use to mobilize their members, affect politics and engage in public debate. Scholars studying industrial conflicts have suggested that, when one form of contentious action (e.g., strikes) decreases, other protest activities (e.g., go slow, demonstrations or petitioning) may increase. This chapter investigates whether and how such a displacement process functions in Sweden by analyzing the Swedish trade unions’ protest repertoire from 1980 to 2020. Examining the content of the protest claims over time reveals that the proportion of protests related to wages, salaries and collective agreement has increased. Thus, even though unions are not replacing strikes with more protests, a larger share of their protest actions concern wages, working conditions and collective agreements, indicating that the Swedish unions are channelling their discontent regarding these issues from strikes into other forms of protests.