Fury over strawberry vendor's baseball bat
Published: 19 Jul 12 09:49 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/42114/20120719/
A strawberry vendor in western Sweden was given a baseball bat as a means of protecting herself, prompting unions to cry foul about sub-standard working conditions for street-side fruit sellers.
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"Two of our inspectors met a girl who sold strawberries near a bus stop in Gothenburg. She hadn't received any proof of employment and her employer had given her a baseball bat which she had on display," Anna Palmér, a representative for the trade union group, told the Göteborgs-Posten (GP) newspaper.
Palmér added that that female vendor lacked access to toilet facilities and was unable to take breaks during her long workday.
She also criticized the fact that the vendor was forced to handle large amounts of cash and that the employer nevertheless neglected to collect any of the money during the day.
"If you're robbed, you're supposed to just hand over the cash box without putting up any resistance. That's how it works throughout the retail industry and in other stores, but in this case the vendor was given a baseball bat instead," she told GP.
"It's frightening."
The matter has since been reported to the Swedish Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket) as well as the Commercial Employees' Union (Handelsanställdas förbund), according to Sveriges Radio (SR)
According to Palmér, street-side fruit vendors aren't the only summer workers forced to put up with substandard working conditions, explaining that the union group has been flooded with calls from summer workers in need of advice.
"I've met young people who started working and don't even know what they earn. I think it's appalling that adults use young people like that," she told GP.
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Amen to that.
...and that is why the USA is the safest place on earth. Are you 7 years old? Because an 8-year old could poke through your reasoning (or rather lack thereof).
It all depends on demographics. Most places in the U.S. are safer than Sweden. Then there's Chicago, where:
27 stabbing homicides have been logged so far in July. 55 homicides (guns and stabbings) were recorded in July 2011. A six-year-od girl was killed in cross-shooting in May.
Chicago is the Obamas home town.
The mayor of chicago is Rahm Emanuel, Obama's former chief of staff.
The idea is that the robber goes to jail indefinitely and does not walk, like in Sweden. When the victim is armed and the jail time is a lot greater it puts the bar a lot higher.
I grew up out in midwestern US farm country and have been around guns my entire life. Never once have I been exposed to armed violence. But I can drive 20 minutes and put myself into a very dangerous environment if I wished to.
You are totally wrong. I just asked our local streetside strawberry seller, Big Bertha, for a quote on a good hard shag, and she beat me up with her baseball bat.
I hold you responsible for this.
working long hours with no bathroom and no papers as well as tons of cash crying out to be stolen = bad.
and in the end of the day they are selling fake swedish strawberries that come from spain.
so i guess the baseball bat is actually the positive thing they done.
laughing my arse off! had to spell it out :D
If everyone can get a gun then many robbers will be more wary of robbing people. And I have never heard of where people carrying a gun while having a store, some random gunman will be carrying a shotgun. If they can afford a shotgun they probably dont need to rob anyone. Good shotguns cost upwards of 300 dollars and are rather large to be carrying around without law enforcement noticing.