Yesterday I wanted to see how the bus drivers strike looked like in Västerbotten, which is a province in Norrland where I live. So I borrowed a friend’s car (no buses running, duh!) and drove downtown. Why did I have to borrow a car if my own was sitting safely in its assigned space in the parking garage? It has a brake problem, which needs to be fixed, but since this is July in Sweden, my friendly mechanic is on vacation. And the parts supplier is also on vacation. And the guy the supplier orders parts from is also on vacation and no new orders can be placed until he returns. So the car sits in the garage until the end of August when the life as we know it will resume once again.
The bus strike in Västerbotten started at midnight on Wednesday, and yesterday was the first day without service. One of the two bus companies affected – Veolia (the other one is Swebus) announced they would lock-out their 67 drivers (which means those guys will not get paid for the duration of the strike), and the Kommunal union responded with “we plan to strike for as long as necessary to get our contract demands.”
And these demands are: a wage increase of 1,600 kronor per month spread out over two years, as well as the right to at least 11 hours rest between shifts.
Sounds reasonable to me, but then again, I am not a bus driver.
