WOMEN WAGE-EARNERS AND THE FUTURE OF SWEDISH UNIONS

The deepening crisis in which Swedish unions found themselves in the 1 980s created an opening for wage earner feminists within the LO to pre ss their cause. Issues like parity, pay equity and worktime reduction have thus been placed on the agenda. Yet the union leadership's main i nterest in its newly discovered women members is as a force to be harn essed behind its strategy for shaping post-Fordist relations. Unlike t he British unions. the LO's understanding of the post-Fordist labour m arket does not take precarious work as the emergent norm whose pernici ous effects must be countered. Rather. the Swedish unions' strategy pr esumes that they can promote 'rewarding work' for all workers by harne ssing the political energy generated by wage earner feminists behind t heir strategy of 'solidaristic work'. This article examines some of th e tensions that have arisen as wage earner feminists try to make room for their own claims within this vision of the future.