The Christian Workers Union of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges kristliga arbetareförbund) was a short-lived Christian anti-socialist labour organization in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The organization was founded in July 1899, but was dissolved the following year.

Founding conference

The Christian Workers Union was promoted by sectors of the free churches. It was founded at a conference in Göteborg, July 1899. The call for the founding conference had been done by the Christian Workers Union of Göteborg (''Göteborgs kristliga arbetareförbund''). Attendees included the Malmö and

Limhamn Limhamn () is, in an administrative sense, the southern district of Malmö Municipality in Sweden. Before 1915, Limhamn was (briefly) a town of its own. The population of Limhamn-Bunkeflo (including suburbs) is 31,000, of which 7,000 live in th ...

branches of an older Christian Workers Union (''Kristna arbetareförbundet''), branches of the

Swedish Workers Union The Swedish Workers Union ( sv, Svenska arbetareförbundet, abbreviated SvA) was a labour organization in Sweden active between 1899 and 1919. Josef P. Nilsson was one of the key leaders of the organization. SvA sought to compete with the Swedish ...

and other Christian labour associations. At the Göteborg conference, there was a debate on whether to join the Swedish Workers Union or form a separate national organization. The conference opted for the latter. According to the protocols of the organization, the delegates at the founding conference represented over 1,000 workers. However, only delegates representing 600 workers had mandates from their respective associations to affiliate themselves to the new organization. According to a statement by a delegate of the Swedish Workers Union, the new Christian Workers Union had some 500 members in total at the time of its foundation (half of them from Göteborg). Many of the persons joining the Christian Workers Union did so in response to the sharp increases in the membership fees of the

Swedish Trade Union Confederation The Swedish Trade Union Confederation ( sv, Landsorganisationen i Sverige ; literally "National Organisation in Sweden"), commonly referred to as LO (), is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fourteen Swedish trade unions ...

.
Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis: Studia historica Upsaliensia
', Vol. 34. Esselte studium, 1971. pp. 45, 165

Programme

The organization sought to counter the

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

dominance in the

Swedish labour movement The labour movement in Sweden dates back to at least the 1850s, when Swedish workers initiated the organizing of previously spontaneous food riots into strikes, hence acting as an autonomous group. History Modern types of labour unions emerged ...

, and it aspired to become a nationwide movement.Lundkvist, Sven.
Politik, nykterhet och reformer. En studie i folkrörelsernas politiska verksamhet 1900–1920
'. Uppsala: univ, 1974. p. 216 The programme of the Christian Workers Union denounced the concept of

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

, and advocated good relations between employers and workers. Members of Social Democratic organizations were barred from becoming affiliates to the Christian Workers Union. Nor were people having 'revolutionary convictions' welcome as members. It was not mandatory to be religious to become a member of the organization, but only believing Christians were eligible to get elected to leadership positions.Flink, Ingvar.
Strejkbryteriet och arbetets frihet: en studie av svensk arbetsmarknad fram till 1938
'. 1978. pp. 27–29

Demise

The Christian Workers Union was dissolved in 1900. By this point the organization had nine affiliated associations, with a total membership of 243. These associations joined the Swedish Workers Union instead.

References

{{reflist 1899 establishments in Sweden 1900 disestablishments in Sweden Trade unions in Sweden Trade unions established in 1899 Organizations disestablished in 1900