Late schedule changes for train staff have increased in recent years, causing problems for workers and their families. As a result, labor union Seko has issued an extensive strike notice which could lead to disruption of train services across Sweden. Around 1,200 union members will take part in the walkout over a three-stage period if no agreement is reached with employer Tågföretagen Almega before 3pm on Thursday. Locomotive driver Max Åkerberg, who is vice-chairman of the Öresundstågen’s Seko club, said schedule changes made it difficult to plan his family’s daily routines. A strike could affect services run by SJ, Green Cargo, Transdev and MTR Subway.
A morning session turns into a late evening session, two daytime sessions into a sudden overnight stay. The problem of late schedule changes for train staff has escalated in recent years, according to the Seko trade union. Now the members have had enough. As of Thursday afternoon, an extensive strike threatens train traffic in the country.
Locomotive driver Max Åkerberg in Malmö, who has worked on Öresundstågen for 14 years, sees no other way out if the dispute between Seko and Tågföretagen Almega cannot be resolved during the week.
– It is difficult to plan the children’s drop-off, pick-up, leisure time. A lot of responsibility is placed on my wife. The schedule can be changed with a day’s notice, and it affects my children and my family, says Max Åkerberg, who is also vice chairman of Öresundstågen’s Seko club.
Around 1200 members will go on strike in three different stages if no settlement is reached before Thursday at 3 p.m. The strike notice applies to staff at Transdev who manage Öresundstågen, SJ, Green Cargo and the MTR Subway in Stockholm.
– When you start a job as a train driver, you know that it can mean work every day of the year and all hours of the day, but we must be able to have some form of foresight. We need to be able to schedule a doctor’s visit or an appointment to the car repair shop. Now the feeling is that the employer controls all our time, says Max Åkerberg.
– If you are not completely free, you do not dare to plan anything at all. You feel powerless.
Photo: Anders Hansson
He receives his schedule 14 days in advance and is subject to late, last-minute changes. Unforeseen events during the working day are something else, he believes.
– Anything can happen when we are out on the track. We can be several hours late, it is part of the job and cannot be influenced. It is the other extensive schedule changes that we are now putting our foot down for.
Three mediators have been appointed to resolve the dispute – and have been in talks with the parties over the weekend and Monday.
Pierre Sandberg, union director of Tågföretagen Almega, tells DN that they strive to reach an agreement.
– I feel that the mediators make an effort and do a good job. We on the part of Tågföretagen are constructive and will do our utmost to avoid the conflict breaking out. I hope that Seko is also constructively disposed, he says.
Ulrika Nilsson is contract secretary at Seko and regrets if the conflict goes so far as to affect travelers.
– But in the second scale, we have members who the day before don’t know how to work, who feel more or less serfs. I think that many Swedes understand that it is unsustainable. That is not the society we want, says Ulrika Nilsson.
Photo: Anders Hansson
SJ announced this weekend that it has blocked its ticket sales for many departures from May 12, which may be affected if the strike becomes a reality.
– This means that we do not sell new tickets for these trains. It is a precautionary measure on our part, so as not to put more customers in an awkward situation, says Peter Kraméus, press communicator at SJ.
If you already have a trip booked, how should you think?
– You can rebook via our customer service. Each traveler can decide for themselves how they want to handle the situation.
Fact.This is how the strike works – if it becomes a reality
If the mediation attempts between Seko and Tågföretagen Almega fail, the strike will take place in several stages.
From 15:00 on Thursday, May 11, all train drivers on Transdev (Öresundstågen) stationed in Malmö will go on strike. MTR employees at Älvsjö railway station also go on strike.
In a second step, on May 15, train drivers on MTR Mälartåg in Stockholm and Eskilstuna will go on strike. Subway drivers on the red line and train drivers on SJ’s Götalandståg in Gothenburg are also on strike.
The third step, on May 18, involves SJ train drivers in Stockholm and Hagalund, Euromaint staff at the workshops in Hagalund and Malmö and all VR train drivers in Malmö.
Read more:
Risk of strike – this applies if you have booked a train journey
SJ blocks ticket sales between major cities