ITF affiliate Kommunal has secured an agreement with their employers’ association after nine days of strike action in Sweden, on 27 June.
Following on from the breakdown of negotiations, the union called the strike over poor working conditions for drivers – including 13-hour working days and the potential for massive job losses when the public transport contractor changes. The new collective bargaining agreement signed between Kommunal and the Swedish Bus and Coach Employers’ Association (BuA) will give workers stronger job security, greater influence on rosters, longer meal breaks and guaranteed minimum wages. Additionally, workers will no longer need to reapply for their own jobs when ownership changes.
A National Social Partners’ Joint Committee will be specially appointed to make sure the agreement rules are being implemented. Kommunal President Annelie Nordström announced that the Joint Committee would provide order and clarity in a sector dominated by a few large multinationals.
ITF inland transport secretary Mac Urata hailed Kommunal’s victory as an example to other affiliates. “The ITF congratulates the achievements that the union has won through this dispute and hopes that they will reverse the race-to-the-bottom competition created by deregulation in the industry. It is an incredible show of solidarity that the members struck for nine consecutive days, starting in Stockholm and spreading to other cities. A fine example of ‘transport workers fighting back’ which is our 2014 Congress theme”.
You can see photos from the strike on Kommunal’s Facebook page
