23/06/2006 11:15:51 am
We Apologise! Today, the biggest daily in Poland published an op-ed containing an apology from concerned Swedes to the people of Poland. At www.weapologise.eu, you can also sign up. The apology is on behalf of the Swedish trade unions and government, who should have been the ones to do it. Here are a few lines from the letter on the web:

"The latest and most disturbing example is the attack on Polish truck drivers in the TV programme "Drevet", a forum for investigative journalism that is broadcast nationwide to a large audience. During the programme, an ombudsman of a section of Transport (the transportation workers? union) could be seen portraying Polish truck drivers variously as criminals, slave labour and social parasites. To make matters even worse, these sentiments were then echoed, defended and further elaborated upon by the head of Transport, Mr. Per Winberg.

Mr. Winberg is not just any trade union leader. In fact, the Transport union has very close ties to the Swedish government and the ruling Social Democrat Party. The Swedish blue-collar unions, such as Transport, are part of the same "labour movement" as the Social Democrat Party. The intimate connections between the party and the union are manifested by e.g. joint campaign offices and the participation of government ministers in union rallies. The trade unions are also the major source of funding for the Social Democrats? election campaign."

Those xenophobic, protectionist and reactionary views of the trade unions and Social Democrats are as stupid as they are shameful. As a Swede, it feels like an obligation to apologise. I suggest you sign up too!