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8 October, 2007
Simultaneous three-day extraordinary congresses were successfully concluded last week in Sweden. In simultaneous congresses, delegates from ICEM affiliate SIF, the Swedish Union of Clerical and Technical Workers, and HTF, the Salaried Employees’ Union, voted to merge effective 1 January 2008 to become Unionen.
The joint congresses adopted statutes for the new Unionen, and passed a dynamic action plan. That plan contains the basic premise that democracy, respect, and solidarity will rule the union. Unionen also set forth in its action plan that it will also utilise union power, and fully realises that recruitment is behind union strength.
The plan also promotes solid environmental and safe climate practices, equality in labour markets, pledges a Unionen push for compulsory labour education in primary and secondary schools, and ensures that the union will protect the rights and interests of unemployed workers.
The combined delegations at the merger congresses in Västerås, numbering 280, also created a youth membership discount on union fees and created a conflict fund. The union also voted to retain regional offices, 19 from Sif and 13 from HTF, and vowed to bring down union fee levels by using return on capital equity for operational uses.
Delegates also had strong words against the crackdown by the military junta against citizens of Burma. Unionen’s executive committee will now take action on that.
Unionen will now comprise 530,000 Swedish workers employed professionally in 66,000 workers in the country’s private sector.
Bengt Olsson and Mari-Ann Krantz of Unionen
Mari-Ann Krantz, from Sif, will be the new President of Unionen, while Bengt Olsson, President of HTF, will be Unionen’s Vice President. Stefan Carlsson, Cecilia Fahlberg, and Peter Hellberg will be the Deputy Vice Presidents. Unionen will hold its first ordinary Congress in October 2008, and return to three-year Congress periods thereafter.
Philip Jennings, general secretary of Global Labour Federation Union Network International (UNI), was the featured speaker at the merger Congress on 3 October, the day the two unions conducted the vote to merge.