The Swedish Building Workers' Union ( sv, Svenska Byggnadsarbetareförbundet, Byggnads) is 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 workers in the construction industry 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 union was established on 1 January 1949, when the Swedish Building Wood Workers' Union merged with the labourers' section of the

Swedish Factory Workers' Union The Swedish Factory Workers' Union ( sv, Svenska Fabriksarbetareförbundet, Fabriks) was a trade union representing manufacturing workers in Sweden. The union was founded on 1 November 1891 in Lund, as the Södra District Heavy Industry Union. I ...

, the plumbers' section of the

Swedish Metalworkers' Union The Swedish Metalworkers' Union ( sv, Svenska Metallindustriarbetareförbundet often shortened in text and speech to simply ''Metall'') was a trade union in Sweden. History The union was founded in Stockholm on 21 May 1888, and had 555 members b ...

and the construction workers' section of the

Swedish Road Workers' Union The Swedish Road Workers' Union ( sv, Svenska Vägarbetareförbundet, SVaf) was a trade union representing road and railway maintenance workers in Sweden. The union was founded in 1914, as the Swedish Road Construction Workers' Union, a split fro ...

. Like all its predecessors, 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 ...

. On formation, the union had 107,373 members. In 1961, it was joined by the Swedish Bricklayers' Union, and the union's membership peaked at 156,462 in 1964. In 1970, part of the

Swedish Stone Workers' Union The Swedish Stone Workers' Union ( sv, Svenska Stenindustriarbetareförbundet, Sten) was a trade union representing stonemasons and related workers in Sweden. The union was founded in 1897, as the Swedish branch of the Scandinavian Stonemasons' Un ...

joined, followed in 1973 by the Swedish Divers' Union, and in 2000 by the

Swedish Sheet Metal Workers' Union The Swedish Sheet Metal Workers' Union ( sv, Svenska Bleck- och Plåtslagareförbundet, SBOP) was a trade union representing sheet metal workers in Sweden. The union was founded in 1893, as a split from the Swedish Metalworkers' Union. While it ...

. Despite these mergers, by 2019, the union's membership had dropped to 80,472.

Presidents

:1949: John Grevin :1952: Knut Johansson :1975: Börje Jönsson :1977: Bertil Whinberg :1991: Åke Wänman :1993: Ove Bengtsberg :2002: Hans Tilly :2012: Johan Lindholm

References

External links

* Swedish Trade Union Confederation International Federation of Building and Wood Workers Building and construction trade unions Trade unions in Sweden 1949 establishments in Sweden Trade unions established in 1949 {{Sweden-org-stub