Anders Nyman, another driver, said the new shift schedules were the worse part of the contract. "We have to leave work after 1:00 a.m. and come to work before 3:00 a.m. where there is no public transport," he said.

On January 6 the private company Citypendeln took over the commuter trains in the Stockholm area from the state-owned railway company, forcing a number of concessions on workers and their union.

Before the takeover workers had access to parking and rooms for rest, as well as an hour paid break on the mornings they were scheduled to work early. "The new schedules means you get up very early and work later through the day, and with no rest. That might become a serious safety problem," Anders said.

The 630 train drivers, conductors, and other workers affected have taken action against the demands by the company. At the end of October many called in sick for two days, reducing train traffic to less than 50 percent of normal. Union officials nevertheless signed a contract December 22, which included many of the takebacks sought by the bosses.

Leading up to the privatization 140 workers refused to sign on for the new company. That came on top of 50 train drivers who found new jobs in the months before the takeover.

Because of lack of workers, trains have been running every 30 minutes as opposed to every 15 minutes as usual. On January 13 the CEO of Citypendeln, Petter Hydén, was forced to resign. The new CEO immediately sat down to negotiate with the union officials to try to find an agreement that might be more acceptable to the workers.

On January 19 drivers on a recently privatized metro line in Stockholm decided at an unofficial meeting to refuse to work overtime every second week. They are protesting new work schedules that include unpaid breaks several hours long in the middle of the shifts. Sixteen thousand bus drivers struck in February last year around similar demands.

The problem in public transport is a daily discussion at work places around Stockholm. "They should have listened to the workers more, then we would not have had these problems. Who would accept take- backs like that?" said one worker at an electronics factory.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home