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Welcome to IF Metall

IF Metall has about 380,000 members at nearly 12,500 workplaces all over Sweden. Because there are so many of us we have a greater chance of improving conditions on the labour market and in society. IF Metall works in the interests of its members and in support of a democratic and equal society where everyone must have the right to a decent and secure job.

This is a matter of negotiating better wages and working conditions and also demanding different political decisions. How much you have in your wallet when you have paid all the bills depends not only on how much you are paid. Taxes, social benefits, tax deductions and various charges affect your finances. It is you and your workmates that decide on the changes we need. But knowledge and commitment are needed before we can bring about change and exert any infl uence. It is important for our members to keep up to date and make their voices heard.

The core of the trade union
Collective agreements are based on a promise that we industrial workers have made to each other.
This promise means that nobody will be able to force industrial workers like us to work for lower wages or in worse conditions than stipulated in the collective agreement.
At the same time those who are unemployed must have reasonable incomes. That is why there is an unemployment fund. It was also the trade union movement that raised the demands and took the initiatives that led to other social insurance benefi ts we have today. All of this together provides general security for all of us.

IF Metall’s members work for instance in:
– the mechanical engineering and plastics industries
– the construction materials industry
– the mining sector
– the pharmaceutical industry
– ironworks and glassworks
– the textile and clothing industry
– automobile repair shops
– sheltered employment.





This is what we work for
In addition to the struggle for good collective agreements, there are many other important issues. These involve everything from secure workplaces and good insurance cover to infl uencing politicians and taking part in the international work of the trade union movement.

Sound agreements
Collective agreements protect our members from arbitrary and unfair treatment. Collective agreements enable us to avoid disputes and offer our labour in return for reasonable wages and decent working conditions.The aim is for collective agreements to offer our members wage rises in real terms, ensure that the lowest wages are raised and that working hours are reduced.

The aim is for everyone in the industry to be given the chance to develop at work, get the training and skill enhancement they need and also have a greater say in what goes on in the workplace.

IF Metall cannot accept the use of globalisation to depress working conditions. The union is working to assure nationwide collective agreements that are adapted to the different sectors as well as the principle that Swedish agreements are to apply to work undertaken in Sweden.

Job development
IF Metall wants to create better jobs and more competitive companies by developing the contents of the tasks undertaken and workplace organisation.

Better working environment
IF Metall is working to ensure greater job security and a sound working environment. Those who nevertheless suffer from accidents or are affected by some other problem at work must feel that their union supports them and be given active rehabilitation so that they can return to work.

Support for change
The union’s members are working in an environment that is undergoing major changes. For this reason security at work and during changes is important.

Members who become unemployed must be offered other opportunities, for example different jobs or training for new jobs. This requires a reliable safety net and labour market policies that work. The unemployed must receive reasonable incomes.

The good society
Our endeavours to contribute to industrial development include not only improving working conditions but also our need to live in a society that is characterised by solidarity, equality and democratic values.
IF Metall is working to enable the vision of the good society to be attained and defends a general welfare system that includes all citizens and in which the costs are shared by all.

A strong trade union organisation
IF Metall’s most important task is to organise all the workers in a company and to make sure that as many as possible take an active part in the work of the union. All the members that want to must be able to take part in the work of the union and infl uence its decisions. Here learning about the trade union is important.
Knowledgeable members and elected representatives are an important requirement for a strong trade union. The trade union organisation must remain close to the members. It must be easy to contact trade union representatives and to get help when problems arise in the workplace.
In IF Metall all members are equally important, irrespective of age, sex, origin or sexual orientation.

Agreements – the result of negotiation
An agreement between an employers’ association and a trade union is called a collective agreement.

National agreements
An agreement between a central trade union and a central employers’ association that applies to an entire sector is called a national agreement.

National agreements are the basis on which local agreements are negotiated.
National agreements mean that wage rises can be allocated in the same kind of way all over Sweden.

The contents of national agreements
The kind of thing that agreements contain will govern:
– minimum wages and wage rises
– rules for piece-rates and monthly wages
– reimbursement for living costs and travel expenses
– regulations about working hours, overtime and compensation
– insurance
– sick pay, holiday pay, payment for working on holidays.

Local agreements
Often national agreements are supplemented by local agreements, to allow higher rates of pay for instance. These are the result of negotiations at the workplace. At workplaces with a local union club elected representatives negotiate with the employer’s representatives. At workplaces that do not have their own local club the local branch negotiates with the employer.

Redundancy programme agreements
Everyone working at a workplace is covered by a redundancy programme agreement. In addition to the measures provided by the state, these agreements offer anyone made redundant support in fi nding another job or training for a new job.
These agreements are paid for with money that has been set aside by the employees during negotiations on national agreements.

Insurance through the agreement
Everyone working at a workplace where there is a collective agreement is covered by the insurance it includes.

Your workplace environment
The employer is responsible for the workplace environment. But the great effectivity demanded by employers often means that less consideration is given to the working environment. That is why health and safety representatives and the local trade union clubs have an important role to play in improving the working environment.

Laws and agreements work together
There are a number of laws, known as labour market statutes. These laws are often supplemented by central and/or local agreements. Together they lay down your rights and your obligations in your workplace.

- The Employment Protection Act
(Lagen om anställningsskydd, LAS)
Formerly employers could sack workers for no objective reason. To prevent this a law was passed to protect the right of employees to their jobs.

- The Codetermination in the Workplace Act (Medbestämmandelagen, MBL)
In order to give employees a greater say about the decisions of employers the Codetermination in the Workplace Act was passed. This act lays down a framework that can be supplemented by agreements.


- The Trade Union Representative Act
(Förtroendemannalagen, FML)
This act gives elected trade union representatives the right to deal with questions that relate to conditions at their own workplace during their own paid working hours. The act also entitles them to time off without pay for other trade union activities.

- The Work Environment Act (Arbetsmiljölagen, AML)
This act is intended to prevent health problems and accidents at work. The law says that employers are to take all the measures required to prevent employees from being exposed to health risks or accidents. The act also contains rules about the tasks of the health and safety representatives, the right to time off without loss of employment benefi ts. In certain agreement areas there are supplementary agreements about local work environment activities.

Other laws that safeguard your rights in the workplace are, for instance, the Annual Leave Act (semesterlagen), the Act Concerning Equality between Men and Women (jämställdhetslagen), The Act against Ethnic Discrimination (lagen mot etnisk diskriminering), the Parental Leave Act (föräldraledighetslagen) and the Study Leave Act (studieledighetslagen).

The union is close at hand
If you have access to the Internet, you can get in touch with IF Metall day and night at www.ifmetall.se. This contains for instance information about the union’s activities, you can read the latest trade union news and there are links to the unemployment fund.

Local representatives
At workplaces where there is no local trade union club, there is often a trade union representative, a local representative. If there are only a few employees at a workplace there may not be a local representative. Then the regional executive is responsible for contacts with the trade union members and providing the support that they need.

Local club
If there are a larger number of employees in a company, a local club is organised. Its members elect their own executive to represent them in trade union activities in the workplace. The local club organises its members and stands up for their interests against the employer.

The members are involved in deciding what issues the local club is to take action about. This normally takes place at general meetings. These deal with wages, working conditions, studies and other questions that are important for the members. In larger local clubs contact representatives are often appointed to keep in close touch with the various production groups or work teams. Contact representatives are often appointed by the local club executive in consultation with the members concerned.

Local branch
The members in one or more localities form a local branch. This provides support for trade union activities in workplaces in the region. From 1 May 2006 IF Metall has 52 local branches. The overall decisions in a local branch are made by its representative assembly, which consists of delegates elected by the members in the workplaces in the region. Other members are also able to take part in meetings of the representative assembly.
The representative assembly also elects an executive committee to manage the everyday operations of the branch.
At the regional offi ce there are also offi cials and other employees who provide support for negotiations and work with unemployment benefits, members’ dues etc.

National executive
The union’s national executive consists of 19 members, of whom 15 work in companies throughout Sweden and six at the central office in Stockholm. The role of the National Executive is to manage the operations of the union during the period between each congress. It is assisted by the Central Office.
The Central Office can also help with issues that cannot be resolved locally. This may involve disputes about how to interpret laws and agreements, enquiries, statistics, national wage negotiations and other matters. At least once each year there is a meeting of the union council. This is the national executive’s advisory body and it decides on operational plans and the budget for the coming year. The union council consists of the presidents of all the regional branches and the national executive.
To plan negotiations on agreements and to elect a negotiation delegation there is a bargaining council. This advises the national executive on negotiation and agreement issues.

Congress
Every three years there is a trade union congress. This lays down the goals for IF Metall and the main focus of its trade union activities. Altogether 300 delegates are elected from the local branches all over Sweden. The number of delegates each branch sends depends on how many members it has. At the congress the delegates also elect the members of the national executive.

General meetings
Every year the union arranges general meetings for its members all over Sweden. Representatives of the union then travel to the local branches where, for instance, they can talk to small groups of members to hear their opinions and discuss important issues of current concern for the union’s members.
This means that there is wide-ranging discussion throughout the union. The members’ points of view are then summarised and used, for instance, when preparing for wage negotiations.

LO. IF Metall is affiliated to Sweden’s Landsorganisationen, LO, in which the different Swedish trade unions cooperate. Altogether the unions affiliated to LO have almost two million members.

Membership dues
Membership dues to IF Metall are a percentage of your wages, on average just under 1.7 per cent. However there is a ceiling that sets a limit to how much you have to pay, as well as a minimum level. Some of your dues go to the union, some to the unemployment fund, and some to the local branch.
The amount you pay is decided by the congress and by the local branch. It is also affected by politicians, who decide how much has to be paid to the unemployment fund.
Membership dues can differ between regions, as the amount charged in the regions varies. A few local clubs also levy a small amount in dues.

What the money is used for
Membership dues are used on the whole to pay for the following:

• The activities of the local branch, including help to members, negotiations, working conditions, meetings and study programmes on trade union affairs.
• Central wage bargaining and disputes as well the union’s work to improve working conditions.
• Insurance for members.
• Trade union study programmes, union information, the journal Dagens Arbete and the union’s other activities, for instance analysis and inquiries.
• The national executive, union council, bargaining council, congress and international trade union activities.
• The union’s subscriptions to LO and other organisations.
• The unemployment fund.

Some of the dues are used to strengthen the union’s strike fund. This is needed if we go out on strike or are locked out by the employers.

The union’s early days
The first trade unions were founded just over a century ago. At that time there was a great deal of unemployment and widespread poverty, wages were low and working conditions poor. It was common to have to work for 12-16 hours a day, six days a week. There was no job security. Workers protested by striking and demonstrating. With no collective organisation and no strike funds they were often forced back to work by hunger.

Soon the workers realised that if they could stick together their employers would have to listen to them. The establishment of the trade unions posed a threat to the employers who did everything in their power to retain their privileges.

Often those who joined trade unions were sacked and evicted from their homes. The employers tried to crush the trade unions with the help of the army and the police, but they were unable to stop their progress. So that the trade union struggle could be waged through legislation, in 1889 the trade union movement founded the Social Democratic Labour Party (Socialdemokratiska Arbetarepartiet, SAP).

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During the 20th century, despite active opposition by the employers, the trade unions, together with the Social Democrats, have managed step by step to advance the position of the workers in their workplaces and in society.

There was no legal protection for members of trade unions and the trade union pioneers faced ruthless persecution.

Benefit from being a member
Someone to turn to
As a member of IF Metall you always have someone to turn to. You can get support and advice about everything relating to your job from one of the union’s elected representatives or paid offi cials. You can also get help to negotiate if you find yourself in a dispute with your employer.
All our members are entitled to good service and help when they need it.
A chance to influence things As a member you have every chance of influencing things in your workplace and in the trade union. For instance you can take part in trade union meetings, study programmes and influence decisions in the local club, the local branch and the entire union.

You can
- Be elected as a representative
- Influence and promote action on issues that are of special concern to you
- Take part in the struggle to improve conditions in the workplace and in the community
- Fight against injustice at work and in society.

Trade union studies
One of the most important ways to develop the trade union is through study. At all the local branches and most of the local clubs there is somebody responsible for study programmes who works to arrange study circles and courses for members.
Trade union studies will offer you a chance to get to know more about your rights and your obligations in the workplace.
Taking part in trade union studies costs nothing – you pay through your dues. And you do not have to be an elected representative. Get in touch with whoever is responsible for studies at your workplace, in your local branch or the regional branch to find out more.

Your leisure time
Leisure time is an important part of our lives. It enables us to recharge our batteries and find inspiration. Several of IF Metall’s local branches offer leisure activities at favourable prices.