BY CATHARINA TIRSÉN
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Miners at LKAB iron ore mines in northern Sweden walked out September 2 over wages, pensions, and an acute shortage of workers at the above-ground sorting and pellet mills in the northern towns of Kiruna and Svappavaara.

The strike started in the pellet mill in Kiruna at 5:00 a.m. and spread to the underground miners there. Soon all the miners in Gallivaare and Svappavaara also sat down. Workers from the second shift and the night shift never took the buses out to their workplaces.

The next morning the dock workers in Lulea, where the iron ore is shipped abroad, took "an extra long coffee break" and sat down.

By then all 2,000 miners at the LKAB mines and the port, which is owned by a subsidiary of the mine company, were on strike. The miners are members of the Metalworkers union, after a fusion between the Mineworkers and the Metalworkers unions.

According to Swedish antiunion laws, the strike was formally a "wild cat" because a national contract was already signed. The implementation of that contract in the mines had been stalled after local negotiations had dragged on. When the strike started, however, company representatives hurried up to Kiruna the same day to have talks with the union representatives.

On September 3 the company and the local unions started formal negotiations. Union representatives called a meeting in Kiruna where the workers decided by hand vote to go back to work.

A day and a half later the union and company had signed a local contract. The miners will get a pay rise of 425 kronor ($52) per month from the national contract and an additional 40 kronor ($5) per month locally, one of the demands by the miners.

They will also get a lump sum of 4,100 kronor ($500) for the six months that have passed since the negotiations started. The acute shortage of workers at the pellet mills in Kiruna and Svappavaara will be addressed by hiring 20 additional temporary workers; the company says it is still mapping out a plan for long-term personnel needs.

The miners' demands over pensions are still not satisfied. The perspective of the union officialdom is to take the issue to the labor court if the company does not agree to their demands.

The miners at the LKAB mines in northern Sweden have been known for their militancy since a 56-day strike over wages and working conditions in 1969-70, a walkout for "human dignity." The strike came as a shock to the employers and union bureaucrats at the time. The miners gained nationwide respect among working people and set an example for a whole series of strikes on working conditions and on winning monthly wages as opposed to piece rate.

Catharina Tirsén is a member of Metalworkers Local 4 in Stockholm.  
 
 
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