It’s not a happy day in Stockholm today. Why? Bus drivers are on strike. It’s actually day two of no buses, and from the looks of it, it will continue a little bit longer. And if no agreement is reached, the strike may spread to other parts of the country. I’ve just read that here in Västerbotten the walk-out is tentatively scheduled for next Tuesday.

So what’s the reason behind all this? As always – money. Or rather, not enough of it. The bus drivers’ union – Kommunal, and the employer – Bussarbetsgivarna can’t quite agree on a new contract, in other words – the usual stuff.

The public at large, even though inconvenienced, seems very supportive of the drivers’ strike. The tourists, however, are another story. A friend of mine who’s in Stockholm bemoans the fact she foolishly bought a transit pass. I told her to ride the metro instead. But happens when you want to visit tourist destinations that are only accessible by bus? Rent a car? No? I didn’t think so. You’re simply going to skip those. And as a result, the biggest losers will be people working at popular tourist sites, nearby shops and restaurants. Such is life…

Last summer it was SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) employees striking, this summer it’s bus drivers… Never a dull moment.

Sweden, same as France for example, is a highly unionized country. There are trade unions for just about every profession imaginable, including an organization for students and people who are unemployed or retired. Their main function is to protect workers’ rights, which sometimes – as we saw today in Stockholm – can lead to inconveniences for other workers. The sad part is that even with all the unionized collective bargaining in the world, Swedish women still get paid less money than men for doing exactly the same job. But that’s a topic for another day, perhaps.

So, what do you need to remember about Swedish trade unions?
The largest workers’ confederation in Sweden is the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. In Swedish – Landsorganisationen i Sverige, and known simply as LO. It was founded in 1898 and currently has somewhere around 1.8 million members. It’s an umbrella organization for 15 affiliate unions that cover both the public as well as the private sector.

The largest individual union is the above mentioned Kommunal. Yep, the guys whose members are currently striking in Stockholm. I can only hope they will settle on a new contract before next week, because a bus strike in Västerbotten would be extremely unpleasant, indeed. We don’t have trains to use instead of buses, and for many small countryside communities, buses are their only lifelines. Let’s just hope it’s only our city bus drivers that will stage a walk-out. During summer the services are so infrequent anyway, that I seriously doubt anyone will even notice.

Here are some interesting words that you may want to remember:

fackförening = trade union
Because it’s an “en” word, the definite form is “fackföreningen”.
Sometimes, only the short version “fack” is used. (I know that it doesn’t sound nice, but trust me, it’s a perfectly innocent word in Swedish.)
Fack is an “ett” word, so the definite form is “facket”.

avtal (def. avtalet) = agreement, contract
kollektivavtal (def. kollektivavtalet) = collective agreement (on wages, salaries, etc.)

photo: Scanpix