Private sector

For the majority of members of a Saco association who are employed in the private sector, cooperation takes place as part of Saco-P, which covers Saco associations with employees in the private sector.

Local sections are found at workplaces. Many of these are called "Akademikerföreningar" (associations for graduate professions). Representatives are chosen and appointed by the members of the local section. In places where it is not possible to have a local section, one or two contact people may be appointed for a workplace.

Saco associations are, separately or in various configurations, parties that represent employees' interests to employers, which includes the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise's sector associations. Agreements are made by sector. On some shared issues, such as pensions, Saco associations conduct negotiations in partnership with TCO associations within the framework of PTK.

In total, around 155,000 of the Saco associations' members are covered by agreements for the private sector.

Industrial sector

In the industrial sector, organisations such as the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers can sign agreements. This sector also has extensive cooperation with the TCO association Unionen and the LO association IF Metall through the cooperative body for industrial unions. In total, around 600,000 members are covered.

You can also visit the website for the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers.

Service sector

Negotiating positions vary in different areas of the service sector. For example, in the Swedish Trade Federation and large parts of the service sector, collective agreements are made via the graduates' association for trade and services (Akademikerförbunden inom Handel och Tjänster – AHT), which consists of a number of Saco associations.

You can visit AHT's website for more information.

Agreement for free schools are signed by the National Union of Teachers in Sweden and the Swedish Association of School Principals and Directors of Education.

In the fields of IT/telecom, bank and insurance, agreements are made via the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers, Jusek (Swedish Union of University Graduates of Law, Business Administration and Economics, Computer and Systems Science, Personnel Management, Professional Communicators and Social Science) and Civilekonomerna.

In their fields, the Swedish Association of Architects, the Swedish Pharmacists Association and the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers sign agreements with the Swedish Federation of Consulting Engineers and Architects, and Apoteket.

The Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers also signs agreements in a number of other fields.