Housing struggles
In Bellevue, a northeastern suburb of Gothenburg, the landlord HSB decided in 2011 to renovate all kitchens in the neighbourhood and increase the rent by 40 %. The rent increase would effectively result in the eviction of many tenants. A organisation of tenants was started, petitions were gathered, and tenants started group together to fight for their homes. They organized barbecues, spoke to the other neighbours and made some attempts to collaborate with the tenants union.
There were several articles in the local paper and representatives of the organization faced the CEO of HSB in a TV-debate. Unfortunately, the struggle was lost, but the knowledge gained and the network of people involved lives on.
It's worth to mention that this neighborhood is facing a severe gentrification process. The landlords and the municipality cooperate to increase the value of real estate and to attract young professionals instead of people with low incomes. It's the usual story, with grandiose shopping malls and new expensive apartments being planned.
Apart from the tenant collective in Bellevue, people involved in a big flea market in Kviberg (facing eviction or a clean-up when the city aim to make the area more attractive to the anxious middle class) have also organized protests. Also, two squats have been set up in empty buildings in 2008 and 2010 but they were quickly evicted by police. The public sector housing company
(Poseidon) went quite far to prove their point - demolished one of the squatted houses and put up this wonderful statue “The watching eye of Poseidon”.
Some of the activists involved in the Bellevue struggle collaborate with a group of tenants facing similar problems in the neighborhood Pennygången in another area of Gothenburg. Their situation is similar to the one in Bellevue - renovation and extreme rent increases - but their struggle involves more people and has gained a lot of public support. The landlord Stena Fastigheter has won the first trial in the Swedish Rent Tribunal nonetheless the tenants have appealed and are hoping to win the next trial. Moreover, the struggle at Pennygången has created a movement with the slogan “The right to stay”, demonstrations have been organized, articles have been written and their struggle and unity stands as a role model for other people facing similar difficulties.
Workplace struggles in Partille
As we all know there are constant struggles at workplaces, but one that stands out in the Gothenburg area is the struggle of workers at a residence for people with autism in Partille, a rich neighbouring municipality to Gothenburg. Theses workers have combined fighting for their rights and fighting to improve the living conditions and treatment of the disabled for a long time - with good results for everyone with exception for their bosses. Its important to know that tax funded social services in Sweden have been going through a process of adopting modern management strategies with different results. The effect is arrogant bosses with little knowledge of work conditions but who demand obedience and loyalty at all cost. In the case of Partille they were confronted by a relatively strong collective who did not accept to have their workplace destroyed.
After a refurbishment of the institution which was badly managed workers came together and formed a group to fight for the well being of the workers and residents. The group also produced a magazine called pedagogiskt arbete (pedagogical work), were they published their own perspectives on the working situation, and which was spread to similar workplaces within the municipality. Following this, their boss got out of hand, increased repression and placed one of the workers with a violent resident to get rid of him. Then, another worker decided to write an open letter to the leaders of the municipality where he described thoroughly the deteriorating conditions and who was to blame. This resulted in the boss being temporarily removed, which was a minor victory, but the harassment from management continued.
When it turned out that the previously removed boss was still working in connection with the residence the worker Atbin wrote another letter again denouncing the corruption within management. It did not seem to come as a surprise that Atbin who had signed the letter and Iraj who supported his opinions were suspended from their workplace. To the corrupt managers surprise, this did not normalize (with obedience and exploitation being the normal) the situation. The group immediately started a campaign against the suspensions and their working conditions . Media was also contacted, some of the biggest papers in Gothenburg wrote about the rot in the municipality of Partille and this caused management to change their accusations. A facebook group was created and an action group formed. The group immediately started to gather petitions against the suspension among their workmates, a first demonstration was arranged in the center of Gothenburg and about 150 people turned up to show their support.
Meanwhile the pressure at the workplace increased, the bosses urged people avoid writing letters and there was a split in the workforce with a few knuckleheads staying loyal to management and a bigger group siding up behind Atbin and Iraj. Interestingly one of the workers who supports management has been known to be abusive towards the residents. The unions on their behalf tried to quiet the situation down, and told the workers to be supportive to their colleagues but not act in any way. One of the unions wanted to sign a deal were Atbin would be removed to another workplace which he refused.
Another demonstration was arranged this time in Partille city center which received a lot of support from minor unions and political parties to the left. Nothing was heard from the bosses, so the workers decided to take the conflict to the politicians at a municipality public meeting. Activist took the stage without permission and asked the surprised politicians what they were going to do about the situation; after some tumult the politicians called the cops. However, some of the more left leaning politicians approached the protesters and started encouraging the workers to work within the unions etc. Anyway, it created a articles in local media and made the politicians and the local bosses aware that the conflict wouldn’t fade away.
At the moment more demonstrations are planned which will be held in several cities. Please contact us if you want to do a support demo outside some Swedish consulate. It will be appreciated!
At the moment more demonstrations are planned which will be held in several cities. Please contact us if you want to do a support demo outside some Swedish consulate. It will be appreciated!
Conclusion
Apart from shaking up a bunch of psychotic bosses and politicians in the town hall of Partille, the workers’ collective in Partille has gathered a lot of people and strengthened their unity as a group, they have also gathered lots of workplace oriented activists to step up, support them and discuss what needs to be done. We are starting to see how powerful we are when we unite, even in Sweden were neoliberal winds and class compromise have been dominant for quite some time.
When writing this we also got to know that a community group in Alby in Stockholm has managed to stop further privatization of the council housing in their area.. We are looking forward to share experiences of class struggle all around the world. Please get in touch if you want to get in contact with any of the collectives mentioned or if you want to share similar experiences with struggling workers in Sweden. And again, support initiatives on the 21 of May or later are more than welcome.
Kamratförening Göteborg 2013-05-19
(The Association of Comrades Gothenburg)
Links to the collectives mentioned
http://pedagogisktarbete.com/ (The workers in Partille)
