The Swedish Agricultural Workers' Union ( sv, Svenska Lantarbetareförbundet, SLF) was a
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
representing farm workers in Sweden.
The first Swedish Agricultural Workers' Union was established in 1908, with the merger of the
Agricultural Workers' Union of Central Sweden and the Agricultural Workers' Union of Scania, but it failed to grow, and dissolved in 1912.
On 6 October 1918, a new Swedish Agricultural Workers' Union was established, at a conference in
Mjölby
Mjölby ( or ) is a city and the seat of Mjölby Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 12,245 inhabitants in 2010.
Mjölby is located by the rivulet Svartån. The name "Mjölby" is derived from ''Mölloby'', which comes from or ''möl ...
. It initially had 1,717 members, and was based in
Nyköping
Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County.
Including Arnö, the locality on the ...
, but moved its headquarters to Stockholm in 1921, by which time membership had grown to 15,674. That year, the Forest and Agricultural Workers' Union of Central Sweden rejoined, having split away in 1919.
[{{cite book , last1=Ebbinghaus , first1=Bernhard , last2=Visser , first2=Jelle , title=Trade Unions in Western Europe Since 1945 , date=2000 , publisher=Palgrave Macmillan , location=Basingstoke , isbn=0333771125 , page=626–630]
The
Agricultural Workers' Union of Småland joined in 1920, followed by the
Swedish Garden Workers Union in 1924. In 1921, there was a short-lived communist split, the
Swedish Forest and Agricultural Workers' Union. In 1930, the
Agricultural Workers' Union of Uppland merged in, and the union affiliated to 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 ...
.
Membership peaked at 48,649 in 1945, then fell, along with employment in the industry. By 2001, it was down to only 11,578. The following year, it merged into the
Swedish Municipal Workers' Union.
Presidents
:1918: Albin Hansson
:1929: Carl Albert Falk
:1932:
Gunnar Sträng
Gunnar Georg Emanuel Sträng (23 December 1906 – 7 March 1992) was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, most known for being Sweden's longest serving minister for finance.
Sträng grew up in a working-class family in Lövsta, today a part ...
:1945: Axel Johansson
:1959: Ewald Jansson
:1973:
Börje Svensson
:1988: Mats Hansson
See also
*
Farm Workers Union of Central Sweden, Swedish: Mellersta Sverges lantarbetareförbund
References
Swedish Trade Union Confederation
Trade unions in Sweden
Trade unions established in 1918
Trade unions disestablished in 2002
Agriculture and forestry trade unions