This chapter examines the impact of unions and working-time reductions in Sweden. It is shown that strong unions do not necessarily mean short weekly working hours and, specifically, strong unions do not always demand working-time reductions in order to preserve employment. Explicit working-time reductions are not the only policies that reduce actual hours worked. Policies that promote absence or career interruptions have the same motivations as working-time reductions and induce substantial reductions in actual hours worked in these countries. Recent policy experiments using career interruptions as work-sharing policies had negative effects on participants' subsequent wages and are not likely to have contributed to the employability of the long-term unemployed, in contrast to the initial intention.
Keywords: labour unions, working time reductions, subsidies, labour market, work-sharing policies