Susanna Gideonsson (born 19 May 1963) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

trade union leader. Born in Umnäs, Gideonsson moved around Sweden with her family until they settled in

Lycksele Lycksele (; sma, Liksjoe; Ume Sami language, Ume Sami: ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Lycksele Municipality in Västerbotten County, provinces of Sweden, province of Lapland (Sweden), Lapland, Sweden with 8,513 inhabitants ...

. She worked part-time delivering newspapers from the age of 14, when she joined the

Swedish Transport Workers' Union The Swedish Transport Worker's Union ( sv, Svenska Transportarbetareförbundet, Transport) is a trade union representing workers in the transport industry in Sweden. History The union was created in April 1897 in Stockholm, as a split from the ...

. At the age of sixteen, she began working in the local woodworking factory, and in 1983, she was elected as leader of the joint committee of

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 ...

(LO) affiliated unions in the town. After the factory was sold, she was unemployed for a period before finding work with the forestry service. In 1989, Giedonsson became the regional leader of the

Swedish Social Democratic Youth League The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League ( sv, Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Ungdomsförbund ; SSU) is a branch of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation in Sweden. The president has been Lisa Nåbo, since ...

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), known in English as West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in the north of Sweden, bordering Ångermanland, Lapland, North Bothnia, and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is known for the cheese named after the provi ...

, and through this joined the

Swedish Commercial Employees' Union The Swedish Commercial Employees' Union ( sv, Handelsanställdas Förbund, Handels), is Sweden's third-largest blue-collar union, with some 145,000 members, of whom around 25,000 are retired. Women make up over 70 percent of its membership. The ...

. She worked full-time for the union from 1996, in

Söderhamn Söderhamn is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Söderhamn Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 11,761 inhabitants in 2010. Sports The biggest local sport is bandy. Broberg/Söderhamn Bandy play in the highest division E ...

and then in

Luleå Luleå ( , , locally ; smj, Luleju; fi, Luulaja) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core (2018) and is the seat of Lu ...

, and from 2005 in its national office. In 2006, she was elected as the union's vice president, and in 2014 she became its president. In 2020, Gideonsson was elected as the president of LO. As leader, she proposed to focus on strengthening the trade union movement, reduce exploitation at work, promote equality and campaign for strong social welfare.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gideonsson, Susanna 1963 births Living people People from Lapland (Sweden) Swedish trade unionists