Union Leader Elected Sweden’s New Prime Minister

Newly elected Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger after signing an alliance agreement in Stockholm, Sweden, to increase cooperation between the IAM and IF Metall in 2007.

The IAM welcomed news that former welder and global trade union partner Stefan Löfven has been elected as Sweden’s next Prime Minister.

“This is a great moment for Stefan Löfven, for Sweden, and for the global trade union movement which helped propel his candidacy to victory,” said IAM International President and long-time friend Tom Buffenbarger. “It will take all his skills as a negotiator to form a government among Sweden’s many factions, but I am confident he has the ability and experience to do so.”

Löfven served as president of the 450,000-member Swedish Metalworkers’ Union (IF Metall) from 2006 to 2012, when he was elected to lead Sweden’s Social Democratic Party. In 2007, the IAM and IF Metall formed an historic trans-Atlantic union alliance to better serve union members employed by global corporations. Löfven also holds the distinction of being the first head of state to attend the IAM’s William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Hollywood, MD.

Owen Herrnstadt, IAM Chief of Staff and Director of Trade and Globalization also praised Löfven. “If a welder named Stefan Löfven can become Prime Minister, then our faith in common sense politics based on raising everyone’s standard of living has been reaffirmed,” said Herrnstadt. “Stefan represents the kind of strong, compassionate national leader the world so desperately needs.”

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