Swedish Unions revive recruitment efforts

Members not only have access to the local database, but also to a national database for Sveriges Ingenjörer throughout the country.

"The database is highly valued by our members and strongly contributes to our attractiveness as a union. Quite simply, they get a lot for their membership," she adds.

The database also contains information on current union activities at ABB Corporate Research. The board of directors regularly publishes information on its activity, and all meeting minutes are also available.

Hence, all members receive an electronic newsletter from the engineers' corporate department in all units throughout Sweden. All totalled, Sveriges Ingenjörer has some 2,000 engineers at ABB in various locations around the country.

"We know that the newsletter is very popular. It is a way of providing important information to members on, for example, equality and pay issues. It is also a way of getting members from various parts of the country to feel involved and to feel united," Shiva says.

ABB is a global, knowledge-intensive group in the power and automation technology sector and employs people all over the world. Many engineers come to Sweden and to Västerås from elsewhere. The international character of the ABB Corporate Research Center, where some 30 countries are represented among the 180 engineers, is very much evidence.

"That doesn't mean that everyone with a foreign background comes directly from another country. Many were raised in Sweden," says Shiva. "But more and more of them do come directly from another country. Just last year some ten foreign engineers were newly recruited at the ABB Corporate Research Center."

These foreign engineers often choose to join Sveriges Ingenjörer at ABB.

"The response has been very positive. We have gained a lot of new members," Shiva adds.

The level of organization among engineers at ABB is significantly higher than the national average. In Sweden as a whole, it is estimated that just over half - 54 per cent - of graduate engineers are members of Sveriges Ingenjörer. The total number of members is 120,000, which represents an increase of 3 per cent during the last year.