https://znetwork.org/category/place/europe/sweden/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Mon, 16 Feb 2026 17:35:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/category/place/europe/sweden/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mothers-are-on-the-front-lines-of-the-nordic-care-crisis/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mothers-are-on-the-front-lines-of-the-nordic-care-crisis/#respond Mon, 16 Feb 2026 17:35:46 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294778 For decades the Nordic welfare states have been held up as global exemplars of gender equality and expansive public care systems. Yet beneath this image of egalitarian modernity, cracks have begun to widen. Across Europe and North America, scholars increasingly speak of a mounting care crisis — a systemic imbalance in which society’s care needs outstrip the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mothers-are-on-the-front-lines-of-the-nordic-care-crisis/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/organize-yes-but-how/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/organize-yes-but-how/#respond Wed, 31 Dec 2025 20:54:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292949 Translated article from the Swedish publication Magasinet Konkret. Organizing is – or should be – the core business of every labor union. That’s how ordinary workers become a force to be reckoned with in the workplace and society. But in Swedish unions today, organizing is noticeably absent. It’s not that there’s all talk and no [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/organize-yes-but-how/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/assange-files-complaint-to-block-machado-from-nobel/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/assange-files-complaint-to-block-machado-from-nobel/#respond Thu, 18 Dec 2025 16:55:00 +0000 The WikiLeaks founder filed a criminal complaint arguing the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to pro-war Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela violates Swedish law, reports Joe Lauria. Julian Assange has filed a criminal complaint in Sweden to block the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize and $1.18 million to Maria Corina Machado, arguing that [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/assange-files-complaint-to-block-machado-from-nobel/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gazas-vs-ukraines-capitulations-the-triumph-of-western-propaganda/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gazas-vs-ukraines-capitulations-the-triumph-of-western-propaganda/#respond Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:44:40 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1291848 Let us compare how leading Nordic European papers report on the “capitulation plan” imposed on the US-subordinated state Ukraine, and the magnificent “Peace Plan” on our victim, Gaza and the Palestinians. It is a stunning exercise in hypocrisy. After two years of attack and genocide by an illegal occupier, the West and its attack dog, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gazas-vs-ukraines-capitulations-the-triumph-of-western-propaganda/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sweden-how-do-successful-unions-operate/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sweden-how-do-successful-unions-operate/#respond Wed, 05 Nov 2025 19:24:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1290856 In Sweden, we have become accustomed to the employer side – not workers – pushing the frontline forward. The ability of unions to push back is not in good shape. Why is that? One reason is the loss of members. On September 4 this year, a headline in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter read: “Workers’ unions [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sweden-how-do-successful-unions-operate/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/swedish-dockworkers-union-leader-sacked-for-gaza-solidarity-action-asks-whose-national-security-is-swedish-law-really-protecting/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/swedish-dockworkers-union-leader-sacked-for-gaza-solidarity-action-asks-whose-national-security-is-swedish-law-really-protecting/#respond Sun, 11 May 2025 10:41:33 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283603 Security is a funny elixir. The more of it that you have, the less there is for someone else… or that’s the conventional wisdom anyway. Erik Helgeson’s experience, however, proves otherwise. Erik, 42, is the vice-chair of the Swedish Dockworkers’ Union and he cared deeply for the security of his members – and also for the safety [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/swedish-dockworkers-union-leader-sacked-for-gaza-solidarity-action-asks-whose-national-security-is-swedish-law-really-protecting/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/which-labor-union-is-the-best-the-bureaucratic-union-or-the-rank-and-file-union/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/which-labor-union-is-the-best-the-bureaucratic-union-or-the-rank-and-file-union/#respond Tue, 03 Sep 2024 16:42:50 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1271787 According to the latest statistics, 69 percent of Sweden’s wage earners are unionized. This can be compared with the peak of 86 percent in 1995. Most wage earners are members of the unions within LO, TCO and Saco. A minority are members of independent trade unions such as SAC, the Swedish Pilots’ Association and the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/which-labor-union-is-the-best-the-bureaucratic-union-or-the-rank-and-file-union/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/swedish-unions-in-crisis-what-solutions-do-syndicalists-offer/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/swedish-unions-in-crisis-what-solutions-do-syndicalists-offer/#respond Mon, 08 Jul 2024 15:45:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1269004 It’s a truism that capitalism is not a democracy; capitalism means economic dictatorship, which is most evident in our workplaces. But truisms have the merit of being true and as long as workers live under the employers’ dictatorship, there is every reason to repeat this truth and fight for democracy. Another truism is that the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/swedish-unions-in-crisis-what-solutions-do-syndicalists-offer/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ill-stay-on-strike-for-months-or-even-years-to-get-this-collective-agreement-in-sweden-the-fight-against-tesla-continues/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ill-stay-on-strike-for-months-or-even-years-to-get-this-collective-agreement-in-sweden-the-fight-against-tesla-continues/#respond Thu, 04 Jul 2024 15:47:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1268856 Citizens and trade unions in Europe continue to fight against the methods employed by the American company Tesla. While plans to expand the company’s German production site at Grünheide, near Berlin, are still being contested by local environmental activists, Tesla mechanics in Sweden have been on strike for the last eight month. They have been [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ill-stay-on-strike-for-months-or-even-years-to-get-this-collective-agreement-in-sweden-the-fight-against-tesla-continues/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/singles-project-for-the-love-of-activism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/singles-project-for-the-love-of-activism/#respond Mon, 12 Feb 2024 09:00:00 +0000 Does getting involved in social change work help you meet people, make friends and even find love? And would it matter if it did? If the goal is to grow resilient people-powered movements, then it is essential that participation improves lives, not just after we win, but now, as a direct benefit of participation. I’d [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/singles-project-for-the-love-of-activism/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/elon-musk-is-union-busting-in-sweden-because-hes-afraid-of-worker-power/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/elon-musk-is-union-busting-in-sweden-because-hes-afraid-of-worker-power/#respond Tue, 09 Jan 2024 17:48:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1260460 Just before Christmas, I paid a visit to the dockers at the industrial harbor of Esbjerg in southwestern Denmark. That day, Danish dockworkers began their solidarity conflict in support of the Swedish Tesla workers’ strike, refusing to unload the company’s vehicles from any Danish harbor. Starting that same day, Danish truck drivers also refused to transport Tesla’s cars and [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/elon-musk-is-union-busting-in-sweden-because-hes-afraid-of-worker-power/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tesla-has-bitten-off-more-than-it-can-chew-by-picking-a-fight-with-swedish-unions/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tesla-has-bitten-off-more-than-it-can-chew-by-picking-a-fight-with-swedish-unions/#respond Tue, 12 Dec 2023 17:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1259233 Since the end of October, mechanics at Tesla workshops in Sweden have been striking in an attempt to pressure the firm to agree to collective bargaining with the Swedish Metalworkers’ Union. Tesla does not manufacture cars in Sweden, so the strike covers only 130 workers. Despite the small number of affected workers, this has become [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tesla-has-bitten-off-more-than-it-can-chew-by-picking-a-fight-with-swedish-unions/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/you-cant-just-make-your-own-rules-tesla-faces-scandi-revolt-as-danes-join-swedish-strike/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/you-cant-just-make-your-own-rules-tesla-faces-scandi-revolt-as-danes-join-swedish-strike/#respond Fri, 08 Dec 2023 14:27:40 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1259041 Tesla faces a growing revolt in Scandinavia after Danish dockworkers joined a sympathy strike with Swedish mechanics, heaping pressure on the electric vehicle giant to grant collective bargaining rights to employees. Members of Swedish trade union IF Metall have been at loggerheads with Tesla for six weeks, and have garnered support via a secondary strike action [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/you-cant-just-make-your-own-rules-tesla-faces-scandi-revolt-as-danes-join-swedish-strike/feed/ 0