Union Density in Norway and Sweden: Stability versus Decline

The aim is to explain why union density is not only considerably higher in the Ghent country
Sweden than in non-Ghent Norway but also why it has declined much more in Sweden, in par-
ticular among blue-collar workers. We show how changes to Swedish unemployment insurance in
2007–2013 were followed by a decline in union density and how white-collar unions were more
successful than blue-collar unions in developing supplementary income insurance schemes that
counteracted membership losses. This type of institutional explanation is nevertheless insufficient.
In Norway, too, blue-collar density has decreased while white-collar workers have maintained their
density rate. Norwegian data further show that even without unemployment insurance funds, it is
possible to achieve a fairly high union density at workplaces with collective agreements. However,
without unemployment benefits like we find in Sweden, it is increasingly challenging to establish an
institutional foundation for a social custom of unionization.