Interview: Salad Bar Owner v Restaurant Union
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Is the owner of Gothenburg salad bar Wild’n Fresh, Sofia Appelgren, right to feel aggrieved about a union blockade of her business? Or is the Hotel And Restaurant Union doing everybody a favour by trying to get her to sign a collective bargaining agreement?
The Local spoke to Appelgren and union representative Daniel Färm to find out the lie of the land.
The real action began two days ago when a union delegation began its blockade of the Wild’n Fresh salad bar in Gothenburg. The proprietor had refused to sign the union’s collective agreement.
Sofia Appelgren takes us back to the start of the tale.
The union wrote to me about three months ago and said they wanted me to come over and discuss collective bargaining agreements.
So I went there and they told me all about it and it sounded very good.
Then I brought the papers back to my staff – I just have a couple of people I bring in for a few hours – and they said they didn’t want to sign anything because they have higher payments without the agreement.
They also have better insurance and they only ever work between the hours of 9 am and 6 pm.
Union spokesman Daniel Färm talks to us from his office in Stockholm. He claims that his organisation has done its homework and reached a different conclusion.
She pays a direct salary which is above the minimum. But with a collective agreement the employees would also be paid for overtime, holidays, absence though illness and so on.
When you add it up these employees actually lose 50,000 kronor each year.
She told her employees that if she signed they would get lower salaries, which is not true. that is unfair treatment
Back in Gothenburg, Sofia Appelgren is having an extremely hectic day. Caught up in the middle of a growing political storm, she resumes her story.
The union gave me two weeks to decide. I listened to my staff, then went back to the union and said no thanks.
They sent my case up to Stockholm and said that I could either decide to sign or expect war. But since I’m on my staff’s side I said no.
One week later I had a really bad letter telling me that there would be war and stating when they would come.
I’m not interested in politics but I know that we live in a democracy and I just can’t believe what is happening.
Now I have twenty people outside my little ten square metre shop. The union people are lying to my customers.
They are telling them that I treat my staff badly and don’t pay them enough and that I force them to smile. All sorts of lies. I am just so tired.
Meanwhile in Stockholm, the union representative explains why his organisation feels the blockade is necessary.
The aim is to gain a fair and decent salary and working conditions for the employees, which is guaranteed in the collective agreements signed by employers and trade unions.
This is the Swedish model, which is supported by all political parties.
It allows strong trade unions the right to seek and pursue the establishment of collective agreements for people working in their particular industries.
In addition, there are a lot of women and people born in other countries who work in the hotel and restaurant industry.
They are already discriminated against and are benefited by collective agreements.
That’s the system in Sweden. We don’t want Swedish jobs competing with lower wages.
Outside Wild’n Fresh, union representatives hand out flyers and engage in debate with a Young Moderate delegation.
The union spokesman in Stockholm has heard from his friends in Gothenburg that the blockade has been marred by ugly scenes today.
Right-wing supporters have spat in our people’s faces.
But this is not an aggressive blockade. We have been working hard in Gothenburg this year and so far 39 employers have signed our agreements.
This is the first time a blockade has been required.
Talking to people, discussing the meanings of fair salaries is not aggressive.
But Appelgren, seeing her livelihood threatened, views the action as very aggressive.
They are just standing there destroying my business. They are there from eight in the morning, before I even get here.
This is my business. I have to live on it.
I can’t afford to think about the past or the present. I have to think about the future, and now I just don’t know what is going to happen.
I thought I was living in a democracy where I could decide these things myself.
Daniel Färm meanwhile is insistent that the union must do everything in its power to prevent price dumping.
We have had a lot of support from people who want to support restaurants which actually have signed collective agreements.
He does not think that the proprietor of Wild’n Fresh is in a position to speak for her employees.
She is not a very credible spokesperson for the employees.
It is very difficult for them to oppose their employer.
But what if they happen to agree with their employer? What if they make their choices as independent individuals who know the implications of union membership but choose to abstain?
We do not think that anybody wants 50,000 kronor less per year.
As for the government, how does the union view the centre-right alliance? With suspicion it seems.
We have had no good answers from the government.
The Moderates say they accept the model we have in Sweden but we don’t think they’re credible.
And the Centre Party has said that it opposes our blockade.
Sofia Appelgren sounds like a woman who would like nothing more than a week on her own in a secluded cottage, far from the bustle of the market hall that houses her small business.
I have a daughter home sick and now I can’t even go home to be with her. There is just so much happening.
I have never had so much to do before. My parents have had to come in to help me.
The place is just full of flowers. It is like a florists in here.
People have been so supportive.
I have to go now. I am so tired.
December 8th, 2006 at 9:55 am
I think the unions are to strong when they go after a samll shop like this one. They are using Mofia tactics to force people into colective agreements.
December 8th, 2006 at 11:27 am
I don’t understand why all the articles I’ve read about this can’t bring any clarity to the situation. Just claims and counterclaims. Can’t someone just talk to the employees and ask them what they really think? Can’t someone add up their total wages under both the existing contract, and the proposed union contract, and verify whether this 50,000kr figure is true or false? This story is crying out for a bit of serious journalism.
December 8th, 2006 at 11:48 am
Whilst I agree with Carl, I have to say the employer should be committed. I’ve been here five minutes and know I’m not in a democracy, she’s been here all her life and still is labouring under the misconception.
December 8th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Carl,
It’s very difficult to work it out with any great certainty but Sänd mina rötter regn has made an attempt and concluded that what the owner pays them is just about right.
December 8th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
The situation is absurd to say the least. Sounds like bullying mafia tactics to me. Doesn’t the union have better things to do that disturb a small business like this?
December 8th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
I have verified that the union is lying. The staff really get more money than they would with the unions collective bargaining. The union themselves on the other hand get a significant amount of money with collective bargaining. This money and the same in other unions is used to pay for the social democrats elections campains. It enables this one party to spend ten times more than all other parties put together during the elections. In return the unions get legal privileges. The partnership between the social democrats and the maffia like unions is the sole reasson Sweden normally is ruled by social democrats. Hence this is not about a sallad bar. It is about Swedish political corruption.
It must be pointed out that there are also some non-corrupt unions in Sweden.
December 8th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Nomens, very learned individual, always liked the chap, however his perspicacity was forever blunted they say after the morning he woke up with a severed horse’s head next to him…..
December 8th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
I feel a bit gutted that I don’t live there – I would make it a habit to stop by there everyday, give the union a hard time, and go in to buy a lovely big (expensive) salad. And then eat it outside, right in front of the placards. I can’t believe that this sort of thing happens, especially when so much is made of the Swedish democracy. The union is doing its best to spread the misinformation – hardly responsible behaviour. Does anybody know of the address that I can send a christmas card to?
December 8th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Collective agreements can be colective greed when they are not tied into the realityof international life. How long will it take for the Swedish public to understand thjat their standard of living has been subsidiced by the world bank and the European Union for a long time? Industry andf commerce will dissapesar from these shores at a suprising rate if the unions are not broken. Mafia tactics, unquestionable policies, and brain-washing of the up and coming generation has worked for fifty yeasrs, however, it will not work forever!
December 9th, 2006 at 5:21 am
I did a little calculation and from the numbers that are available it looks clear that if they signed the collective bargaining – they would lose about 5.5K Swedish Kronor per full-time employee. That number is fairly consisten whether the employer or the employees take the rap.
Coincidentally that is about what the Union would get from the deal… Anyone else reminded of the Mob?
December 10th, 2006 at 1:37 am
This sounds like a terrible situation. Here in Kansas, USA, we have very few unions. A local meatpacking plant is paying about $11 US per hour now. When I worked there in 1977, the same job paid $9.50 per hour. They could use a union. I think unions are an evil necessity. Keeping them public, transparent, and vulnerable must be a priority, however, or they will do exactly what is described here.
December 10th, 2006 at 4:58 am
Sofia Appelgren
Wild´n Fresh Salladsbar & Delikatesser
Saluhallen Briggen
Nordhemsgatan 28
Goteborg
Sweden
This is the address to the courageous entrepreneur if anyone would feel like sending an encouraging message.
December 10th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
This is not an isolated incident. In fact most unions in Sweden do very little for their membership and simply live off of a percentage of their salaries. Take for example the unions ‘supporting’ technical workers. Those work closely with so-called consulting firms like manpower, caran, mercuri urval and others who take as much as 40% of their ‘consultants’ wages to ‘represent’ them to prospective employers. What is really happening, is that large companies like Ericsson and Volvo are pay for project workers so that they get around the Swedish laws about hiring and firing. In return, they hire largely, if not completely from consulting companies instead of hiring themselves, effectively causing most technical workers to pay up to 40% of what could be their salaries, if there were not a middle man, for the privilege of having a job.
December 11th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
What a nightmare! Sofia, keep your spirit high and don’t let anyone bully you into doing something you or your staff do not want. This is ridiculous and crazy. Unions are suppose to offer help and support. Why unions are threatening a small business, which is trying to run a business and offering opportunities for some of the unemployed people of Sweden. Its a salad bar, what about big burger chains? Are they (unions) parading outside their doors?
December 11th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Notably absent in the reportage are the views of the employees. Also, there are few facts reported.
The article and the replies published are just one big rant against unions. Nevertheless, from superabundant experience here in the United States of America, it is clear that workers suffer in the nonunion work environment of the service sector.
Fortunately, the fastest growing union in the Unites States, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has recently had considerable success in organizing workers and improving wages. It is unfortunate that many Swedes do not appreciate the broad benefits that unions have provided for people who work for a living. Judging from the responses here – much is at risk.
December 11th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
Randy – if you can read the entries and summize that the writers are against workers choosing to unionize themselves, you are either drunk or a union representative who doesn’t need to weigh the merits of an argument rather than merely see where the union, any union, stands on issue.
The best I can hope is that you didn’t bother to read this story properly.
December 12th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Well, it now appears as if the resturant might be going out of business. Score another great victory for the mob… I mean Swedish unions. Now we’ll see how much the union actually cares for the workers they claim to protect, or how much of what the union says is lip service to cover their intimidation and strong arm tactics for collecting protection money… er I mean dues. Will there be jobs for the displaced employees, or now that their employer has been forced out of business by the union, will that same union just claim that the former employees weren’t members?
December 12th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
[...] Restaurant versus Union [...]
December 13th, 2006 at 5:29 am
SOFIA WE LOVE YOU IN MIAMI!!!!
December 13th, 2006 at 10:05 am
Shouldn’t students who work a few hours have some of the money put towards their pension? I don’t get this, are they stupid?
December 13th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
Students SHOULD be saving their money. And if they are not smart enough to do it, we should make them by demanding that they join the union. If that doesn’t work we’ll put their employer out of business so that they have to work somewhere that makes them save a pension. In fact, let’s tell them what bank to put their pensions in, what funds to invest in and what they can spend their pensions on when they do retire! Vote RED!
December 14th, 2006 at 10:15 am
Bill, I have worked while being a student and my sister has as well. None of those employers have ever withheld any money from me like this girl has with her employees. They lose like 15 000 kr a year with her, is that right?
December 16th, 2006 at 1:42 am
Sofia Appelgren does not withhold any money. The get more than they would with the union and they get it all in cache. The union would take some of it for the unions political activities and some to buy substandard insurances from the unions affilated insurance company who return the favour by puting union and social democratic bigwigs on its lucurative board positions.
December 17th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
As a non Swede living in Gothenburg, I find this whole scenario an extreme example of the many instances where public funds are spent inefficiently. This young, energetic, entrepreneur should be commended for sticking to her initial stance. Hang in there Sofia. The longer you do the more ridiculous the union will appear to the public, and the sooner they will be forced to move on to something more important.
December 19th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
What public funds are those Ross?
December 19th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
First I should say that I have never worked in a union job. I have never been discriminated against, received unfair wages or benefits. Not all jobs had health insurance, but I knew that in advance. The best part of the system is that it is a matter of CHOICE and personal responsibility. There are enough jobs here that you can leave one and go to another within days if you are willing to work. My husband’s wages here are double what they were in Sweden. Additionally, there are so many people working and so many jobs that prices are lower than many other countries. I can buy a Husqvarna products here for 1/2 the price you pay in Sweden. It’s a good system. You should try it.
December 19th, 2006 at 5:00 pm
I know a lot of people who work in the restaurant busines. I would say 70% have worked black ,or are working black… just another example of double standard’s… the Swedish system indeed!
December 21st, 2006 at 11:17 pm
I write as a small business owner in Göteborg. The blockade of Wild n Fresh is totally unbalanced and can not be justified by the unions. Has anyone considered the “human rights issue” in this” ?
Sofia Applegren has her own perfect right to decide not to sign the collective agreement and to agree on her own arrangements with her employees. Why should the unions use force and intimidation on a small business against her will?
Where is the equality in the wonderful Swedish Model?
I asked the pickets outside Wild n Fresh “Why are you doing this?” They replied “Because she is not paying her employees enough”. Well, I said “All they need to do is to walk away from the job if that is the case!”
Those guys outside her place are just puppets, being used by the top people in the unions who have had it so good for so long that they cannot see the end of the road for them, eller hur?
January 5th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
The “Swedish-Model” in short:
Actually, there is absolutely noting that prevents the restaurant owner from giving her employees more money than the agreement with the union states. Obviously, no union would want to keep the wages down.
Nearly everything in the agreement is already stated in the Swedish law. The agreement is merely a clarification so that the employee can feel certain that the employer knows the law and intends to follow it.
The one thing not covered by the law in Sweden is minimum wages. Instead, for the restaurant business this is regularly negotiated between the employer’s union and the worker’s union nation wide. The raises are just above the economic growth rate of the nation to prevent inflation.
The agreement prevents the employers to dump the wages. Sweden doesn’t have 0% unemployment which means that the employees just can’t leave and take another job, as an previous author suggested.
As stated by previous authors, this is a model that is supported by all political parties that is represented in the Swedish parliament. The big restaurant chains like McDonald’s, BurgerKing, PanPizza, et.al. all have these agreements. And they are pro-union in Sweden, since the system is transparent, balanced and fair.
If she intends to follow the law, there is no non-political reason not to sign the agreement.
March 14th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
> If she intends to follow the law, there is no non-> political reason not to sign the agreement.
Except that the employees does not want to support a corrupt political party and except for the human rights issue and except that they get more mony than the union stipulates and that they do not want to support union representatives only motivated by greed and malevolence directed at them and their employer on union bigwigs with CEO-style salaries and ploticians on their payroll. Few people the age of these emploees like the union. Most pay their protection money in fear of the union, not in case they get in trouble with the employer.
Some people change their mind about unions when they start a family and need more security.
Unions are this destructive and authoritarian only because they provide nothing that would attract voluntary members.
June 17th, 2007 at 1:53 am
[...] June 17, 2007 at 1:52 am · Filed under ‘Ska bli frisk’ (All posts) Sometimes I just need inspiration, hence I browse the Web. What compells me to write is all about urge. If I don’t feel it- I won’t write it. I have something brewing on the “Swedish Fuck Union” and a sallad bar incident. The latter provided the final nail in the coffin I needed to just ask myself, why do I pay several hundred kronors per month for such rubbish? Besides, I’m on sick-leave and I asked my union what they could do for me. I got the answer “nothing”. [...]