Union of commercial employees

Handels, The Commercial Employees' Union, is Sweden's third-largest blue-collar union, with some 149 000 members, of which around 25 000 are retired. Women make up over 70 percent of our membership.

Although the union was founded in 1906, it's in many ways a young organization. A fourth of our members are under the age of 30 and almost half are under the age of 35.

We are active in more than 25 000 different workplaces and represent a wide range of groups and industries. The majority of our members are in the retail sector, but we also organize groups such as florists, hairdressers, storage and warehouse personnel, opticians, watchmakers, office staff and students in vocational training.

Fair Pay & Conditions

Handels negotiates agreements for fair pay and better working conditions. Pay is a major trade union issue, and our ambition is to ensure the introduction of salary structures that are clearly linked to the conditions and work at each workplace. Our aim is fair pay, and a key objective is the eradication of differences between men’s and women’s salaries.