“SAC is currently a small union. We are about 3000 members. Nevertheless, it is easy to give positive examples of what our sections accomplish. One of many successful sections is the section at a food factory in the county of Skåne. The section has pushed through more permanent employment contracts.
Health and safety
An example of how a minority of syndicalists can improve the working conditions of all employees is a creative notice of action that was declared within Stockholm’s commuter trains. The employer was reluctant to provide staff with warm winter uniforms. The bigger unions within LO and TCO got nowhere in negotiations. The syndicalists therefore announced that they would use extremely ugly uniforms that they had designed themselves, with a photo attached to the notice. The employer then gave the entire staff new uniforms.
Another example is my previous workplace, the University in the city of Umeå. Science teachers and researchers in our section pushed through a move from so-called sick houses (in Swedish: sjuka hus) to healthy buildings.
Wages
A third example of a militant minority is the syndicalists at Eco Glocal, a subcontractor to Volvo Trucks in Umeå. The employer agreed with the local job branch of LO on wage reductions of several thousand Swedish kronor a month. In response, the syndicalists initiated a collective slowdown (i.e. reduction of the pace of work). The old system of remuneration was thereafter reintroduced.
SAC is the only union in Sweden that is fairly successful at organizing migrant workers. One example is Polish workers at the cleaning company Perfect Maid in Gothenburg. They informed the client companies about their low wages and bad conditions and urged them to contact their employer. Those clients who didn’t express sympathy with the cleaners became the object of strikes. As a result, everyone got a pay raise, among other improvements.
Pregnant workers
Another section of migrants is active in Zalando's warehouse. The workers have acquired the right to take breaks every hour and chairs to rest on. They simply took breaks and demanded chairs again and again. Those are important victories, especially for pregnant workers, considering that Zalando is a hellhole similar to Amazon’s warehouses.
The power of agitation
In the Stockholm subway, during the first decade of the 21st century, a section staged a three-year organizing plan. One of several long-running conflicts concerned the right for all workers to take breaks. An interesting experience was that the massive agitation of syndicalists (both oral and written) could unite the work force really fast. Thus, a collective attitude was expressed in certain issues that produced better results than the section’s strikes and blockades. Class struggle isn’t just about putting economic pressure on profits but putting psychological and moral pressure on bosses as well.
Individual wage setting
Another positive example is the section at Eriksdalsvillan in Stockholm. The section has stopped so-called individual wage setting. This means that managers set wages arbitrarily. The section has stopped it and instead equalized wage differences, which is rare in the Swedish labor market.
It is easy to list positive examples but more difficult to explain how you build collective strength and improve conditions. I will try to clarify it below…”