At the rally workers blew whistles and wore white T-shirts and caps saying, "Gislaved." Some wore blue caps with the letters "D.A.," which is short for the Industrial Union paper, Dagens Arbete. One banner demanded, "Work for Gislaved," and a placard demanded, "Stop closing down our industry--Change the law!" The rally opened with a solemn "funeral ceremony" where workers, dressed in black, carried tires painted as funeral flowers and a "family gravestone" with the names of plants closed down by Continental throughout Europe: Dublin, Newbridge, Herstal, Traiskirshen, and Gislaved.

"We brought that idea with us from Hanover," said Sem-Ove Lundberg, referring to a rally in March when 100 Continental tire workers joined fellow unionists from the company plant in Traiskirshen, Austria, to protest layoffs at the Continental headquarters in Hanover, Germany.

Pakfetrat Khosro, 47, a worker with 13 years in the plant, told the Militant that he had been to the Hanover rally. "It was good, and so is this one," he said with a smile. "I have been making 550 tires for them every day, but soon that will be over. I will have to find work in another factory."

A band at the rally performed a song directed at Continental. An article in the main liberal daily Dagens Nyheter the day after the rally stated dryly that "the peaceful Swedish workers have learned how to make a show of their protest from their colleagues down in Europe."

Industrial Union local president Kaarle Heino addressed the rally. He pointed out that the 774 workers forced onto the unemployment lines in a small industrial town like Gislaved would be the equivalent of 70,000 jobs in Stockholm. "It’s far too easy to lay off employees in Sweden compared to other European Union countries," Heino said.

As part of the rally a union delegation delivered a resolution from the union local at the plant demanding "energetic and powerful initiatives from the state to create new work opportunities and education for Gislaved." According to Dagens Arbete, Rosengren said that the rules concerning layoffs "will be looked into."

Under the administration of Prime Minister Göran Persson’s Social Democratic Party, Stockholm has taken the lead among its imperialist rivals in Western Europe in its drive to slash the social wage. As Persson himself put it in a speech in Stockholm on May Day, "We have broken mass unemployment, but now the main task will be to create a program against sick leaves and early retirement." So far, the government has not lifted a finger to provide new jobs or economic compensation to working people affected by the shutdown of plants around the country.

Continental’s announcement that it is halting production in Gislaved came last December. It is one in a series of layoffs in old industrial towns throughout the country. This includes the Ericsson plant in Kumla, the Avesta Polaroit steel mill in Degerfors, and the Scania assembly line in Katrineholm.

Eduardo Andrés Björnerström, a worker with 12 years in the tire plant, came to the rally with his wife Mailinn, who works as a nurse. Both are originally from Chile. "Many of us who are here today are not very used to protesting, but you have to do it," he said. On July 5, Continental will shut down its tire production in Gislaved. Workers invited supporters of the Militant to participate in an upcoming rally taking place in that town.

Daniel Ahl is a member of the Industrial Union in Stockholm, Sweden.  
 
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