About us

The LO-TCO Secretariat of International Trade Union Development Co-operation was founded by its two members: the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen - LO) and the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (Tjänstemännens centralorganisation - TCO). LO and TCO represent a total of 3,2 million union members.

The LO-TCO Secretariat is dedicated to promoting a more equal distribution of power and resources to eradicate poverty in the world, to fostering equality and welfare and to strengthening democracy.

We aim to achieve this by supporting the creation and development of independent, democratic trade unions throughout the world. All our projects emphasise equal opportunities.

We believe that strong unions are vital agents in bringing about change in all countries. Where people are union members, demand their rights and reasonable working conditions, existing power structures and society as a whole can be changed. Collective agreements are one of the best mechanisms for combating poverty, and the struggle to negotiate and defend collective agreements is a permanent feature of trade union work – here in Sweden as in other countries throughout the world.