Swedish Building Workers' Union

Swedish trade union

Sweden

Members

80,472 (2019)

Key people

Lars Hildingsson,^[1] presidentAffiliationsLO, IFBWWWebsitewww.byggnads.se

The Swedish Building Workers' Union (Swedish: Svenska Byggnadsarbetareförbundet, Byggnads) is a trade union representing workers in the construction industry in Sweden.

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 plumbers' section of the Swedish Metalworkers' Union and the construction workers' section of the Swedish Road Workers' Union. Like all its predecessors, the union affiliated to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation.^[2]^[3]

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 joined, followed in 1973 by the Swedish Divers' Union, and in 2000 by the Swedish Sheet Metal Workers' Union. Despite these mergers, by 2019, the union's membership had dropped to 80,472, slightly over half its strength compared to the union's mid-1960s heydays.^[2]

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

2024: Lars Hildingsson^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Lars Hildingsson tillförordnad ordförande för Byggnads". www.byggnads.se (in Swedish). 20 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b Kjellberg, Anders (2017). The Membership Development of Swedish Trade Unions and Union Confederations Since the End of the Nineteenth Century. Lund University. p. 88–91. ISBN 9172673109.
^ Ebbinghaus, Bernhard; Visser, Jelle (2000). Trade Unions in Western Europe Since 1945. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 626–630. ISBN 0333771125.