The Swedish Saw Mill Industry Workers Union (, abbreviated SSIAF) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

of saw mill workers in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The union was founded in 1891, it was initially known as ''Svenska sågverks- och brädgårdsarbetareförbundet''.Ståhl, Margareta.
Vår enighets fana: ett sekel fackliga fanor
'. Stockholm: LO, 1998. p. 230 The union died out after a few years, but was refounded in 1897. The refounding followed a decision by the congress of the Social Democratic Labour Party to organize workers in

Norrland Norrland (, , originally ''Norrlanden'', meaning 'the Northlands') is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administrative p ...

. Kymmer Olof Danielsson from

Gävle Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

became the chairman of the refounded union. In 1898 it was one of three trade unions that founded the

Swedish Trade Union Confederation The Swedish Trade Union Confederation ( ; literally "The National Organisation in Sweden"), commonly referred to as LO (), is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fourteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-c ...

(LO). The organization experienced a period of growth between 1905 and 1907, during which many new branches were set up. The name SSIAF was adopted in 1908. SSIAF suffered a severe backlash after the failed 1909 general strike. The union lost around 67% of its membership during this period. In 1925 SSIAF formed a joint cartel along with the forest and paper industry unions. In 1936 the three union launch a joint publication, ''Skogsindustriarbetaren'' ('The Forest Industry Worker'). The SSIAF member

August Lindberg August Lindberg (6 September 1885, Älvkarleby, Uppsala County – 15 July 1966, Stockholm) was a Sweden, Swedish trade union organizer. He was a sawmill worker by profession, and belonged to the Swedish Saw Mill Industry Workers Union (Swedish l ...

became the LO chairman in the same year (a position he held until 1947). In 1920, the cellulose workers in the union left to join the new

Swedish Paper Workers' Union The Swedish Paper Workers' Union (, Pappers) is a trade union representing workers in the pulp and paper industry in Sweden. The union was established on 21 June 1920, at a conference in Gävle. It brought together 6,251 workers, most from the ...

, while in 1937, 10,497 relevant workers transferred to the Swedish Forest and Rafters' Union. SSIAF merged into the

Swedish Wood Industry Workers' Union The Swedish Wood Industry Workers' Union (, STIAF or Trä) was a trade union representing wood workers in Sweden. The union was founded on 1 January 1924, when the Swedish Wood Workers' Union was split in two. Like its predecessor, it affiliate ...

in 1948.

References

{{reflist Swedish Trade Union Confederation Timber industry trade unions 1891 establishments in Sweden 1948 disestablishments in Sweden Trade unions in Sweden Trade unions established in 1891 Trade unions disestablished in 1948