Fackligt oarganiserade arbetares förhållningssätt till fackët och fackligt medlemskap : En kvalitativ studie om erfarenheter och handlingsmotiv

Sammanfattning: The union organization rate has continuously diminished since the mid 90's. The aim of this essay is to investigate non-members approach to the union. Central questions are what personal experiences the respondents have of the union and how they view the union as a phenomenon. According to previous research the main cause of the great decline in membership to LO are the increased membership fees to the union and the unemployment insurance funds (UIF) in 2007. The increased fee led to a greater accumulated cost for those who were both union- and UIF -members, which had a negative effect on the membership numbers for the union. This study is based on qualitative interviews with three persons working within the agreement area of IF Metall and three persons within the agreement area of Kommunal. To interpret our empirical material we use Max Weber´s theory of social action. The study shows that the membership fee is an important factor for the decision to stay out of the union but even more important is the lack of personal benefits that union membership is associated with. Generally the interviewees think that the union, to increase the personal benefits, should be more present in the working place and that they should work more intensively to improve the work environment, workplace safety and job security. The union is not considered to offer personal safety to the extent they ought to. The protection that is requested stretch from qualified support in labour law negotiations to a secure and steady income in case of unemployment or sickness.