Swedish trade unions are engaged in several activities at the European level. One of these isthe sectoral social dialogue, an institutionalized part of the European Union. This bachelorthesis examines the motives for Swedish trade unions in three different sectors to engage themselves in the European social dialogue. The three sectors are chosen because of their differences according to their exposure to competition caused by ongoing globalization and europeanization processes. By interviewing central informants in trade unions which are active in the three dialogues this thesis seeks to learn more about the motives stated by the trade unions.

?The importance of representation and structures to establish influence. A study of the Trade Unions Youth Activities within The Swedish Trade Union Confederation.?-Katrin OlofssonThis essay is studying the importance of representation and structures for the youth to establish influence, within the Trade Unions of The Swedish Trade Union Confederation, LO. More specific it is about the youths influence in each trade union´s executive committee.

With a base in Ian Manners? theory about Normative Power Europe ? that the European Union is to be seen as a normative power instead of a civilian or military ? this paper seeks to contribute to the discussion about identity by examine the normative elements of the union?s policies towards Russia between 1997 and 2013. Which norms are most important and how does the diffusion look? The findings show that democracy, rule of law and respect of human rights are among the most diffused norms, and this is more than often done by using the Russian interest in economic progress. Over time the European Union has taken on a more critical approach against Russia, while still appreciating their prosperous relation when it comes to trade and energy.

Trade Unions are finding it increasingly challenging to appeal to employees and all trade unions alike are encountering new challenges to attract and retain members. Additionally a more diversified and educated labor market is creating demands for trade unions to better meet individual needs. The purpose of this study was to explore and analyze the role of branding in Unionen, the largest white-collar trade union in Sweden, and how branding efforts help in attracting and retaining trade union members. The theoretical foundation of this thesis is based on theories related to corporate branding and relationship marketing. Furthermore, the study develops and introduces the concept of member branding in the context of trade unions.

The object of interest in this essay is the issue of reducing work hours and how that issue was handled in the Trade Union Confederation (LO). In previous research the struggle for shorter work hours has been viewed as a struggle between trade union and employers? organizations. The previous research has had difficulties in explaining LOs part in this struggle, their actions have not been the expected. LO had not played an active part in the struggle for shorter work hours and the previous research has not been able to given a satisfying explanation for this.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze how employees perceive their leader / manager. How the leader / manager perceives himself in relation to employees and what differences exist.Research Method: The information was made through a qualitative approach. The study includes interviews with semi-structured questions and a subjective selection. The authors interviewed seven respondents from a service company. Based on the information the authors have attempted to draw parallels between the leader?s behaviour and theories involving different leadership styles and see how the employees perceive the leader.Conclusions: The employees and the leader have the same ideas about what is a good leadership.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to study how DIK (Documentation, Information and Culture), the major trade union for Swedish librarians, work with the status and professionalization of the occupation. The status is, as we see it, low and depending on several factors. They are among others: the knowledge base, how extended the research base is and the domination of women within the profession. These factors all work together to maintain the status and the prestige of the occupation at a low level. With the help and work of the trade union DIK the status can improve if the focus is right.

This study aims to illustrate the Leader approach and analyze the work of collaboration development within Leader. The idea has also been to describe some of the difficulties that might be encountered in this type of development work. By highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of this approach we hope to enhance the chance that future work in similar projects can be implemented more easily. Leader is a tool and methodology used in the European Union (EU) for work on sustainable rural development and it has been used since 1991. The purpose of Leader is that by supporting rural projects they will gain social capital and development in the rural communities.

This study was based on a quantitative method to examine gender-related attitudes towards leadership styles among employees in trade union organizations in Sweden. The aim of the research was to investigate and understand how gender relates to attitudes regarding leadership within these organizations. The study was based on research questions related to preferences for different leadership styles and the impact of gender on these attitudes. The study incorporated previous research and relevant theoretical frameworks such as leadership theories, gender theories, and theories on prejudice against female leaders to contextualize our findings. Data were collected through a survey using a convenience sampling method, targeting employees of trade union organizations in Sweden.

Trade was assigned as a Community responsibility at the founding of the European Community in 1957. It was then recognized that Europe would achieve a greater international influence if it were to negotiate trade deals with one voice. Since then, the basic rule has been that the European Commission negotiates agreements on behalf of the EC, and presents the agreements negotiated for approval in the European Council. Today, the 25-member European Union is the largest trading power in the world, and most member states have decades of experience of coordinating their national trade interests into a common position. However, partly as a result of the complex nature of the trade decision-making processes it is sometimes problematic to identify who or what really influences EU trade policy.

The research of the essay will be about Solidarity, the Polish trade union that began to rise in the beginning of 1980. In more specific tendencies to the empirical study, it is interesting getting to know about when the free trade union was created with a view to liberate the Polish people from Communism.The essay will be studied as an empirical case study, with a qualitative text analysis. The content will also include how power is allocated to the political, economic and social aspects of the national, and international relations. Therefore it will be relevant to use a method of ideology analysis to the qualitative text.The result of the theoretical analysis was that it is difficult to apply the social movements into a political change, even if it leads to success. According to this, participants in social movements are able to use the most potential and most necessities of resources, just as activists tend to do in reality..

The research of the essay will be about Solidarity, the Polish trade union that began to rise in the beginning of 1980. In more specific tendencies to the empirical study, it is interesting getting to know about when the free trade union was created with a view to liberate the Polish people from Communism.The essay will be studied as an empirical case study, with a qualitative text analysis. The content will also include how power is allocated to the political, economic and social aspects of the national, and international relations. Therefore it will be relevant to use a method of ideology analysis to the qualitative text.The result of the theoretical analysis was that it is difficult to apply the social movements into a political change, even if it leads to success. According to this, participants in social movements are able to use the most potential and most necessities of resources, just as activists tend to do in reality..

The aim of this paper is to study and outline the factors governing political leadership at the party leader level, and to conclude to what extent a party leader rules and to what extent the party leadership is contextually determined. The theories used are based on Elgie's interactionistic study of political leadership and Stewart's organisational model of leadership as well as political culture.Thus, the questions raised are if the leader leads or if the leader follows; if the leadership environment is formed by the leader or if it is, merely, implemented on the leader; and what a model of the political leadership consist of? To answer these questions a text analysis comparing Sahlin?s speeches to the party?s political programme is used as well as in-depth interviews with members of the Board of Party.The conclusion shows that the leadership is contextually framed, but the leader is free to implement his or her ambitions within that frame as long as it is coherent to the party line..

The EU Services Directive has caused an intense debate across Europe. Its purpose is to remove obstacles to trade and to open up the public sector to increased competition. The Swedish labour movement has been deeply involved in the policy process, and union leaders have proclaimed the compromise reached in the European Parliament in April 2006 as a success.In the paper two major aspects have been considered: the meaning of the Swedish model and the process of Europeanization. The Swedish model previously allowed for a strong labour movement, through a social democratic hegemony, but the EU membership has implied new conditions for union influence. The paper examines how this change has affected the strategic choices of the Swedish labour movement, and how it has been manifested in the union's work with the Services Directive.

In this study we examined co-workers experiences of having a previous colleague as their leader, which is relatively common. We made qualitative interviews with six social welfare administrators who had been through this situation at work. The questions had been concentrated at how they were affected by the previous relationship, what expectations they had, and their view of how the business had been handled by their leader. The result of these interviews has then been connected to two leadership theories. The conclusion of the study was that the experience of the situation differs.