STOCKHOLM — At least 70 commuter train drivers walked off the job here on a three-day protest strike April 17, shutting down over 80% of traffic during the first two days. “By striking for our working conditions and the safety of the passengers we are saying that we have had enough and that one-man crews can not be allowed to spread in the rail industry,” the strike committee said in a press release before the strike began.
After the municipal government decided in February to remove “train hosts” from the local system, more than 150 drivers met April 14 and decided to strike to demand the return of the second crew member.
“The pressure on you, driving a train alone, and at the same time being responsible for up to 1,800 people, is an unreasonable workload,” driver Moa Friman, on the picket line at Stockholm’s Central Station, told the Militant.
“Going on strike, we’re showing where our union should set the bar in upcoming negotiations,” driver Nils Westberg Ahlmark explained. “We are putting the bar at the top when it comes to safety.”
There has been widespread support for the strike. By the second day 1.3 million Swedish krona ($127,000) had been contributed to the strike fund.