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SWEDENDEMOCRATS

Unions mull Sweden Democrat ban

Members of the far-right Sweden Democrats should be denied trade union membership, according to a large proportion of leading union representatives.

Almost a third (31 percent) of district chairmen in the IF Metall, Grafikerna and Pappers unions would like to see a ban placed on Sweden Democrat (SD) members, despite the fact that the party gains more support from union members than from the population as a whole.

A survey carried out by Novus Opinion on behalf of Dagens Arbete has shown that 5.8 percent of the country’s industrial workers would vote for the right-wing populist party if there was an election today.

Of the trade unions surveyed, IF Metall’s district chairmen were most critical, with 49 percent calling for a ban on Sweden Democrat members. 22 percent of Grafikernas’ chairmen and 13 percent of Pappers’ chairmen also supported the idea of banning Sweden Democrats.

But the district heads did not have the backing of their national chairmen.

“SD is an undemocratic organization that advocates things that we don’t share. But to issue a general ban on members is not something I think we should do,” Pappers chairman Jan-Henrik Sandberg told Dagens Arbete.