The Workers Museum

This chapter provides a broad overview of the development of major labor market struggles and labor market institutions in the Nordic countries; the three Scandinavian countries Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and Finland. It begins with a short review of the early years of the Nordic labor movements and the introduction of a new repertoire of contentious action with the strike, the lockout, and the mass demonstration as the most popular and effective collective manifestations. Then follows a description of the formative years of the labor movements and the consolidation of the nationwide trade union organizations from 1900 until the end of Second World War. The final historical sections look at labor market disputes during the creation of the Nordic welfare states since 1945, when the trade union movements and the labor parties reached their zenith but also came under greater pressure due to declining support in the time leading up to the millennium.