By Finn Kjeller
More than 150,000 Danish workers went on strike on April 20 in support of bus drivers fighting the effects of privatisation. Defying aggressive bosses, local and national government and daily police brutality, 82 bus drivers have been on strike since February 10 against the wage cutting private takeover of bus traffic in Esbjerg, Denmark's fifth largest city.
The Esbjerg city council put a private bus company, Ri-Bus A/S, in charge of running the city buses. The company, with the strong backing of the employers' association, refused to negotiate even a transitory arrangement.
The old agreement with the municipal authorities expiring on April 1, the Esbjerg bus drivers were facing a wage loss of 8.5-15.4%. In addition, the bosses were putting the squeeze on other benefits and working conditions.
Since 1993, the Liberal Party has controlled local government in Esbjerg, intending to make it a breakthrough for their offensive against trade union influence. At the beginning of February, it was clear to the bus drivers that there would be no real negotiations even though they had offered to meet the bosses half way by a gradual reduction of wages.
Following an almost unanimous decision to go on strike, the conflict was soon hardened by the tough stance of the employers' association. Management fired all of the strikers and advertised for new employees.
The picket has been the central means of action throughout the strike. All of the drivers have taken part in blocking the garage area. Until the end of March, the picket was effective — no city buses were running, and regional buses could not enter Esbjerg if they wanted to get out again.
The bus drivers soon got the support of their colleagues in other cities and towns as well as, in some cases, from bus drivers' locals in Norway and Sweden which are experiencing the same process of privatisation. During the previous six months, active warehouse workers and garbage collectors had been fired but successfully defended by trade union campaigns.
Workplaces in Esbjerg had an old agreement never to accept police interfering with a trade union struggle: "If the police intervene, we all stop working." This was put to the test on March 27, when the police first attacked the picket line. On that day the picket was more than 400 strong, but the police, using dogs, were able to get out a few buses which they had to escort all over town. As a prompt reaction, all major workplaces in Esbjerg went on strike for a day or two.
This served as a signal for countrywide solidarity. Regional and national shop stewards' conferences were called, and these prepared the national day of action on April 20.
Danish labour market regulations penalise most strikes by fines on top of the loss of wages. Nevertheless, more than 150,000 strikers, possibly 200,000, showed their sympathy on April 20. Most of the shipyards, bacon factories and the other larger city workplaces were part of the movement. Bus transportation was paralysed in all cities, as well as parts of the ferries and airlines.
The Social Democrats, in government with two small liberal parties, have been more or less unable to act. While the right-wing governments of Poul Schluter were responsible for introducing neo-liberal concepts in the 1980s, few public companies and tasks were actually handed over to the private sector until 1993, when Poul Rasmussen led the Social Democratic comeback.
Local authorities also have been encouraged to invite tenders for different services, typically those employing women on low wages. A big service company, ISS, has been able to gain contracts by undercutting the prices at first, then raising them afterwards. Increasing competition between private and public services means that workers have had to work harder.
Contributions from trade unions all over the country have financed the strike. For the first two months, the movement was largely run by the local trade unions and rank-and-file activists, but the wave of workplace solidarity brought the SiD (the federation to which the drivers' union belongs) and the regional bodies of LO, the Danish trade union congress, onto the scene as decisive financial and organisational supporters.
Ri-Bus has succeeded in employing some 20 scab drivers, not counting a number of drivers who soon (re)joined the strike. Every morning, police break the picket, resulting in several casualties and arrests among the picketers. Some dozen buses then run part of the day, followed by the workers and therefore under heavy police protection.
As new coach loads of picketers arrive every day, thousands experience how the police are putting Esbjerg in a virtual state of emergency. Several hundred have been arrested. People are being arrested for just standing around or sitting on a bench. The strikers are under constant surveillance, including wiretaps. Threats have been made against scabs, but also against strike leaders.
Social Democratic politicians and trade union leaders are eager to put the lid on all expressions of outright resistance to privatisation. Their aim is to limit the conflict to the local level.
Plans have been made to maintain and develop broad working-class support. A new day of action is set for June 1. The SAP (Socialist Workers Party — Danish section of the Fourth International) puts forward the demands for LO to call a 24-hour general strike on June 1 and SiD to launch secondary strikes and pickets against all firms delivering goods and services to the bus company.
Fax messages to the Copenhagen support committee: 45 31 39 76 94. [Abridged from International Viewpoint.]