Hundreds of thousands of travelers would be affected if 1,200 rail traffic employees go on strike.
If no agreement is reached on a new collective agreement before Thursday, the strike will become a reality.
– The train companies have abused their right to change schedules, says train driver Kristoffer Palmquist.
1,200 employees in the rail traffic may be taken out on strike after the negotiations on a new collective agreement for the rail traffic stalled.
The service and communications union Seko announced a strike on Tuesday and if no agreement is reached before 3pm on Thursday, the strike will be a fact.
Train driver Kristoffer Palmquist tells Efter fem about what are the most important questions for the employees:
– The train companies have abused their right to change schedules. It is becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile work with family life. An early morning can become evening and evening can become night. It is far too difficult for us to plan our family lives.
The locomotive driver: An industry in crisis
He believes that it is not increased wages that are the most important thing, but being able to plan one’s life. Instead of asking, only the employees’ schedules are changed, he believes.
– We are an industry in crisis that people are leaving more and more often. To change that, you have to change our conditions, he says and continues:
– They are mediating right now and we are preparing here in Malmö. But we hope it doesn’t break out.
Would hit the travelers hard
The strike would affect hundreds of thousands of travelers across the country in the coming weeks.
– You would have major disruptions in local and national traffic, says Axel Green, Dagens ETC reporter, to Efter fem.
It is an acute situation with great pressure on the union, he says.
– This is a question of power and influence.
The warning is both powerful and advanced. One should not assume that it will happen, says Axel Green.
– You never know, but statistically it is not that likely. Sweden strikes the least in Europe.
Almega Tågföretagen declines to comment. Mediators from the mediation institute also declined to comment.
Step one may come into effect on Thursday, May 11. It includes train drivers stationed in Malmö who drive the Öresund trains, including across the Öresund Bridge to Denmark and between Gothenburg and Skåne. In addition, maintenance staff in Stockholm and Gothenburg.
Stage two can start on Monday 15 May. Then subway drivers on the red line in Stockholm go on strike, a line with hundreds of thousands of travelers daily. Train drivers who drive the Mälartågen from Stockholm to Örebro and Eskilstuna are also covered by this step, as well as the western trains in western Götaland.
Stage three can enter into force on May 18 and includes SJ’s train drivers who are stationed in Stockholm and Hagalund. In addition, train driver on Pågatågen and train driver on several freight trains in Piteå and Boden. In addition, workshop staff, instructors and changers in different parts of the country.