left advance in Scandinavia's largest unionised workplace
Volvo workers ready for change
On March 12th 10,000 workers at the Volvo plant in Gothenburg, Sweden will elect trade union delegates. The left-wing Union Opposition is mounting an ambitious campaign to rebuild a fighting union in Scandinavia's largest local union body, and cut its financial link to Sweden's ruling Social Democratic Party. Peter Lindgren "If we win it will be like opening all windows in a closed and damp house, says Union Opposition candidate Göte Kildén. "Our candidacy is a necessary step in order to make our union the serious defence organisation we all need. We have to show all disappointed metal workers that it is both necessary and possible to fight for the leadership of our own union."
Union Opposition has been present at Volvo for 25 years and today runs three of the 30 trade union subgroups at Volvo Gothenburg. The opposition has nominated four candidates for the Executive Committee of the Volvo union and 98 candidates for the delegate council of Local (Branch) 41, which organises all metalworkers in the city of Gothenburg. A decisive minority
Even if they win all these seats, the opposition would still be a minority in the Executive Committee and represent one third of the 290 delegates in Local #41. But this could still be a winning position. The social democratic current in Local #41 is traditionally badly represented, with only 50-80 delegates. So the Union Opposition delegates could easily become the single most important group in the delegate council.
Not suprisingly, the National Metalworkers Union has changed its statues, to try to stop the activities of the Union Opposition. Because by-laws demand party names in elections, the opposition slate must now run as "Socialist party and independents"
Three of the Union Opposition candidates to the Executive Committee are members of the Socialist Party,' Göte Kildén, Tomas Johansson and Lars Henriksson. All are chairmen of their respective union subgroups. The fourth Union Opposition candidate is Dennis Ohlsson (independent)../s Radical mood
The opposition's electoral prospects are good. Since coming to power in October 1994 the social democratic government has implemented a harsh cuts policy. The party
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84283006 was a leading force in the 1995 referendum, in which a slim majority of voters agreed to membership of the European Union. All subsequent opinion polls showt Sweden to be the most dissatisfied of all member states, with 70% of blue collar union members? still saying "No to the EU!"
Last year, the social democratic government was confronted with mass protests for the first time since the 1930s - when unemployment benefit was cut from 80 to 75% of earnings. In January 1997, new cuts in housing, education and health programmes were introduced. A further reduction in unemployment benefits will come into effect two days after the union election at Volvo. About 60,000 unemployed trade unionists will loose their unemployment benefit completely, and become dependent on lower, social welfare payments.
In December 1996 the three subgroups run by the opposition voted to end union support to the Social Democratic Party. In a fourth work group, run by loyal social democrats, Lasse Henriksson debated against Executive Committee Olle Ludvigsson, and convinced 85% of his colleagues to vote against the link to the ruling party.*
Last month, the Socialist Party weekly Internationalen revealed that Ludvigsson, who sits on the Volvo board of directors, had voted in favour of a 300 million SEK (US$41 m.) bonus and pension package for the company's top five executives!
Despite the sharp confrontation, the climate in the union is suprisingly good. LOTidningen, the weekly newspaper of the country's trade union federation LO, has even carried a running discussion.
"Excessive wage increases will harm the claimed LO Chairman Bertil "It is a betrayal of the members to claim such a thing, at a time when profits are soaring and low paid workers are losing money also because of the governments policy," replied Tomas Johansson on behalf of the Union Opposition. The relative
Sweden *
00 900U016 9310 comradely reply from Bertil Jonsson shows that something new is happening in Swedish union circles. Not only is a representative of the opposition, a member of the "Trotskyist" Socialist Party allowed to debate with the national leadership in the main union publication, but there is not a word of anti-communism in the leadership's replies! Socialist Party
At the Volvo plant in Ume in the north of Sweden one delegate and two alternates to the April convention of the Metalworkers union are members of the Socialist Party. Another SP member was elected as a delegate from the Scania plant in Falun, central Sweden.
This is the first time that far-left militants have been elected as delegates to the metalworkers convention. What is more, there were no social democratic countercandidates in the workplaces concerned. Union branches in both Umeå and Falun have been in the forefront of the opposition against the cutbacks of the government, sometimes reaching nation-wide attention.
The signs of the times are good. But can Union Opposition really win at Volvo? The opposition is strong in three work groups, but has few experienced militants in the other 27.They have real financial problems in reaching out to all members. The social democrats has 60 full timers and about 200 part-timers who will campaign during working hours; persons who fear that the opposition will send them back to the assembly line if they win! * 1. Swedish Section of the Fourth International 2. Sweden is world number one in union affiliation: 84 percent of the workforce are members. 3. In a membership referendum, 90-92% ot the membership of the three subgroups' members voted to cut financial support to the Social Democratic Party. 4. According to LO-Lidningen (the weekly of the Swedish union federation LO, Ludvigsson will resign if the Union Opposition wins the election in Local #41.
March 1997 #286 7
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SVERIC