Negotiating alone or through the union? Swedish employees’ attitudes in 1997 and 2006

Abstract

It is said that people today are less interested in collective solutions such as union representation, mainly as a result of the processes of individualization that dilute collectivist orientations. On the basis of survey data carried out in Sweden in 1997 and 2006, the article studies attitudes towards two ways of negotiating with the employer — through the union or individually. The results show a minor decrease concerning the union option, while the willingness to negotiate individually has somewhat increased. However, the perceived need for the union was still high in 2006 — six out of 10 employees agreed with the statement. Another main conclusion is that employees’ attitudes are clearly class-based, even though the class differences were somewhat smaller in 2006. Finally, young people are often seen as forerunners in adopting individualistic orientations. However, the results do not confirm that a collectivist attitude has been replaced by an individualistic leaning among younger employees.