During the last week in June chaos has crept into the lives of many Swedes. Daily routines have been turned upside down, and why you might ask yourself? Because of the strikes of the local busses. Many people in Sweden, especially in the bigger cities don’t own cars. They completely rely on being able to take the whereever they need to go, whether it is shopping, taking the kids to daycare or getting into town to have a drink with friends.

During the first couple of days the strike involved all local busses in Umeå, Södertälje, Norrköping, Jönköping, Strängnäs, Halmstad, Västerås/Hallstahammar, Gävle and most of the busses in Stockholm. But as the days went by the bus/coach driver’s union threatened to extend the strike to intercity coaches.

Many newspapers interviewed locals about their views on the strike, revealing a great support amongst bus travelers. In general everybody wanted the bus/coach driver’s union conditions to be met. Before the strike many bus drivers had so short breaks that should something go wrong or delay the bus their breaks had to pay the price. Toilet or coffee breaks were luxuries on tough days, which are working conditions nobody should have to work under.

The other demands the union made were about job security and increased wages. Before the strike many bus drivers approaching retirement age were worried about their jobs in the event their subcontractors should change.

After a week of chaos as well as very patient travelers the strike ended when the bus driver’s employers’ and the unions agreed on better working conditions. Sweden now has it’s public transport back and it is with a sigh of relief many travelers start swiping their bus cards again.