BY CATHARINA TIRSÉN
STOCKHOLM - "Work, work, work" was a slogan that was repeated over and over again by 8,000 construction workers and others as they demonstrated here January 24. The action was organized by the Construction Workers Union. More than 30 percent of the union's membership - 40,000 construction workers -are unemployed nationally.

Construction workers came in buses from all over Sweden for a meeting at Sergels torg in central Stockholm and a march that ended outside the parliament building.

In an interview published in Newsweek last October, Swedish prime minister Goran Persson had bragged that his government had been able to accomplish sharp cuts in social services, including funding for health care and education, "without any strikes, without any people on the streets."

Under the previous government, dominated by the conservative Moderate Party headed by Carl Bildt, the social democrats and the unions had organized several joint demonstrations, especially leading up to the elections.

Since the Newsweek interview, however, demonstrations at the end of October and in November, organized by unions and groups of unemployed, attracted several thousand participants. One of the organizers of those protest actions, a young unemployed member of the Transport workers union, Therese Rajaniemis, became known among workers all over Sweden.

The rally by the construction workers was the third sizable national demonstration against growing joblessness.

"We want to see Goran Persson," the demonstrators called at the meeting outside the parliament building. But instead the government sent out Jorgen Andersson, minister of interior affairs, and himself a former member of the Construction Workers Union.

When he talked about the "successful economical policies of the government," Andersson was met with boos and scorn. It did not help that he promised that the new budget would set aside funds for "ecological construction," which was one of the demands in a manifesto issued by the Construction Workers Union. Nor did it help when Andersson referred to a promise by Prime Minister Persson the day before to give 10 billion krona extra that he had "found" in the budget for schools, hospitals, and care for elderly. The promise sent stocks and the value of the krona down, and interest rates up January 24.

A special contingent at the demonstration was made up of several hundreds of participants from Arboga, a small industrial town in central Sweden. The car company Volvo had just decided to move Volvo Aero, a factory that repairs airplane engines, to another town. This would lay off 550 workers. They marched behind banners such as "Volvo is devastating Arboga," "Stop Volvo from moving from Arboga," and "Never again a Volvo!"

"We call out, work for all," was a slogan raised by the workers from Arboga several times, and repeated by the rest of the crowd.  
 
 
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