IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v27y2021i3p337-352.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trade union struggle for workwear in Swedish elder care

Author

Listed:
  • Annette Thörnquist

    (Forschungsinstitut für Arbeit, Technik und Kultur (F.A.T.K.), Tübingen, Germany)

Abstract

This article investigates why it took over 20 years of trade union struggle before workers in Swedish elder care were granted the right to free workwear. How did the Swedish Municipal Workers’ Union (Kommunal) tackle the problem; what obstacles did the union face; and why was the matter finally regulated by the state (in 2015 and 2018) and not by collective agreement in line with the Swedish model of self-regulation? The study draws mainly on an analysis of important court cases. The results indicate that the process was protracted mainly because of the unclear legal basis for pursuing demands concerning workwear, municipalities’ (local authorities’) opposition to a general obligation to provide workwear, mainly for financial reasons, and the fact that the issue was deadlocked between the remits of two government authorities, representing patient safety and work safety respectively. The main reason why the union eventually preferred to fight for a legislative solution was that a negotiated solution would probably have come at the expense of other urgent union demands in this female-dominated low-wage sector. When Kommunal intensified the struggle for free workwear in the 2010s, the union also stepped up its struggle against the structural gender differences in wages in the municipal sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Annette Thörnquist, 2021. "Trade union struggle for workwear in Swedish elder care," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(3), pages 337-352, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:27:y:2021:i:3:p:337-352
    DOI: 10.1177/10242589211031369
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10242589211031369
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/10242589211031369?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mathew Johnson & Jill Rubery & Matthew Egan, 2021. "Raising the bar? The impact of the UNISON ethical care campaign in UK domiciliary care," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(3), pages 367-382, August.
    2. Hood, Christopher, 1995. "The "new public management" in the 1980s: Variations on a theme," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(2-3), pages 93-109.
    3. Julian Le Grand, 2007. "Introduction to The Other Invisible Hand: Delivering Public Services through Choice and Competition," Introductory Chapters, in: The Other Invisible Hand: Delivering Public Services through Choice and Competition, Princeton University Press.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ranerup, Agneta & Norén, Lars, 2015. "How are citizens’ public service choices supported in quasi-markets?," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 527-537.
    2. Ian Hodge & William M. Adams, 2016. "Short-Term Projects versus Adaptive Governance: Conflicting Demands in the Management of Ecological Restoration," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Ball, Amanda & Craig, Russell, 2010. "Using neo-institutionalism to advance social and environmental accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 283-293.
    4. Norman Gemmell & Patrick Nolan & Grant Scobie, 2017. "Public sector productivity: Quality adjusting sector-level data on New Zealand schools," Working Papers 2017/02, New Zealand Productivity Commission.
    5. Robbins, Geraldine & Lapsley, Irvine, 2015. "From secrecy to transparency: Accounting and the transition from religious charity to publicly-owned hospital," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 19-32.
    6. Rosta, Miklós, 2013. "New Public Management: opportunity for the Centre, thread for the Periphery," MPRA Paper 68474, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Tóth, Balázs, 2021. "Milyen kapcsolatban állnak a közszféra reformjai a gazdaságpolitikai paradigmákkal? [How reforms of the public sector relate to the paradigms of economic policy]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(2), pages 205-222.
    8. Maria Rosaria Alfano & Anna Laura Baraldi & Claudia Cantabene, 2023. "Eppur si muove: an evaluation of museum policy reform in Italy," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 47(1), pages 97-131, March.
    9. Sari Suomalainen & Outi Tahvonen & Helena Kahiluoto, 2022. "From Participation to Involvement in Urban Open Space Management and Maintenance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, October.
    10. Shukla, Anuprita & Teedon, Paul & Cornish, Flora, 2016. "Empty rituals? A qualitative study of users’ experience of monitoring & evaluation systems in HIV interventions in western India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 7-15.
    11. Mr. Richard I Allen & Yasemin Hurcan & Peter Murphy & Mr. Maximilien Queyranne & Mr. Sami Yläoutinen, 2015. "The Evolving Functions and Organization of Finance Ministries," IMF Working Papers 2015/232, International Monetary Fund.
    12. Klasa, Katarzyna & Greer, Scott L. & van Ginneken, Ewout, 2018. "Strategic Purchasing in Practice: Comparing Ten European Countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(5), pages 457-472.
    13. Wise, Ramsey, 2015. "Does market-oriented education systems improve performance or increase inequality: A configurational comparative method for understanding (un)intended educational outcomes," TranState Working Papers 189, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Center 597: Transformations of the State.
    14. Mathew Johnson & Miguel Martínez Lucio & Stephen Mustchin & Damian Grimshaw & Jo Cartwright & Jenny K. Rodriguez & Tony Dundon, 2023. "City regions and decent work: Politics, pluralism and policy making in Greater Manchester," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 41(3), pages 504-522, May.
    15. repec:cuf:journl:y:2017:v:18:i:1:moreno-enguix is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Heli Hookana, 2011. "Measurement of Effectiveness, Efficiency and Quality in Public Sector Services: Interventionist Empirical Investigations," MIC 2011: Managing Sustainability? Proceedings of the 12th International Conference, Portorož, 23–26 November 2011 [Selected Papers],, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper.
    17. Ferry, Laurence & Zakaria, Zamzulaila & Zakaria, Zarina & Slack, Richard, 2018. "Framing public governance in Malaysia: Rhetorical appeals through accrual accounting," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 170-183.
    18. Laurence Ferry & Peter Eckersley, 2015. "Budgeting and governing for deficit reduction in the UK public sector: act three 'accountability and audit arrangements'," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 203-210, May.
    19. Marianna Mauro & Monica Giancotti & Giovanna Talarico, 2017. "Mapping the field: A bibliometric analysis of accountability literature in healthcare," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(101), pages 7-30.
    20. Ioan Popescu, 2011. "The Expansion Of European Bureaucracy," CES Working Papers, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 3(3), pages 415-428, September.
    21. Deryl Northcott & Necia France, 2005. "The Balanced Scorecard in New Zealand Health Sector Performance Management: Dissemination to Diffusion," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 15(37), pages 34-46, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:27:y:2021:i:3:p:337-352. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.