ABSTRACT
The level of employers’ organization is relatively constant, but for the unions, the level of organization has been declining since the mid-1990s. If this development continues, it will at some stage be an obstacle to the collective approach to working life issues. Well-educated, humanistic-oriented HR experts, production engineers and IT developers can undermine the essence of the Nordic approach: the safeguarding of collective interests. There are public debates on the liberal right, who believe that the Nordic approach stands in the way of the necessary transformation to the relentless global competition. Although there may be few liberalists who are sceptical to collective organization, the basic liberal understanding of what is necessary may become a serious threat to collective organization. Acceptance of employers’ rights to direct and distribute work, an acceptance of the market and an acceptance of employers’ needs to generate profit are all obstructions in the necessary confrontation with wage work and capitalism.
