Why Protection of Precarious Parts of the Labour Market is a Matter for Everyone

Abstract

The key to any type of curbing and eventual remodelling of capitalism lies in collective organisation, and especially the organisation of labour. Capitalism cannot be understood as static or as a universal form; rather, in its constant development in search of profits and continuous capital accumulation, it evolves to circumvent the resistance that the system meets. The grounds that were secured in the creation of the Swedish welfare state, and which we have been losing since the 1990s, are related to a general decline in participation in different organisations but especially to the decline of membership levels and organisation in large and strong trade unions. Just as capitalism is a continuous process, the movements that seek to remodel it also need to be continuously evolving. While the Swedish trade union confederation (LO) is having trouble recruiting members across the board, the trade unions are having the hardest time with some of the more precarious workers in the Swedish labour market. The failure to organise these workers, who have only very slender opportunities to exercise their rights, is not only a problem for workers that come to Sweden but is also central to the strength of the entirety of trade unions in Sweden.

Keywords

• migrant workers
• Swedish model
• precarity