During a break in the negotiation process, Sirel interviewed Therese Hulthen, Vice President of the Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Union  (HRF), member of the negotiating team and responsible for union action organizing.

-HRF is fully mobilized…

- Yes, we have called for a union strike from Monday morning.  This means that if we do not reach a collective bargaining agreement by Sunday, we will cal for the strike on Monday. 

This conflict is a reaction faced with an employers' attempt to outsource work in the sector, and also, of course, the discussions on salaries. These are the two main issues. 

We need to reduce the employers' abuse of precarious work that they use on a day to day basis, where they hire people for one day only and this can go on for days, weeks, months and even years. So these workers have no right to sick leave or extra pay on holidays and other benefits.

- And on the salary situation, are the positions of employers and workers very far from each other?

- Yes, very very far. In both issues our proposals are very far from each other. And according to Swedish law, when there is no agreement within the direct negotiation, the State provides mediators.  

However, the mediators said that we are too far from each other and that they will not meet with us again until we come closer in our positions. 

So, now, if the employers want to meet with us, it could happen during the week-end. This is key to define if we go on strike on Monday.

- What is the union action plan?

- We start the strike on Monday in 19 workplaces in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. If the dispute is not solved by Friday, we take seven more sites.

But we also have the support of the Swedish trade union center (LO), so within a week food workers, electricians and others will join supporting us.

The initial strike is selective of the major hotels, the major hotel chains not only in Sweden but at international level, we begin by urban hotels in three cities only, in the Rezidor, Sheraton, Scandic, just to mention a few.

- How many people are involved?

- In this first strike, on Monday, approximately one thousand workers, but our affiliates are 38,000 and they will all go on strike if the conflict is not solved. 

Also, please let me mention that at the international level, we have received support letters from the president of the IUF HRCT   Group , Norberto Latorre and from the IUF Latin American Secretariat  and both mean a lot to our members.