Planka - freeriding in Sweden and Finland

Buses, trams, commuter trains and underground trains are necessary for workers to get around - a direct action campaign in Sweden and Finland is demanding that it be free.

Oisin Mac Giollamoir interviews Anna from the planka.nu campaign.

How did planka.nu start?
It started as a small campaign initiated by the SUF (Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation) group in Stockholm after an increase in fares. We made posters and flyers and arranged mass protests in the subway. We also started "P-kassan" - the free-riding insurance. You pay a small amount to join the insurance fund after which if you get caught free-riding your fine is paid.

How is this campaign run and structured?
In the campaign we practice direct democracy in meetings, there is no committee where anyone has more power than anyone else.

What has been the reaction of the media and the state?
The reactions have been stronger than we expected; freeriding seems to be a very controversial method of engaging in politics. Maybe because it's so simple, everybody does it at least sometimes. I think that planka.nu focuses on this common phenomenon and that really scared the politicians. Some of the media loved us and at the same time other media refused to publish the web site address www.planka.nu or even mention the word "planka."

All the local planka.nu groups - Stockholm, Gothenburg, Ostergotland and Helsinki - have been reported to the police but free-riding isn't criminal so nothing has happened.

Where do you see this going?
So far we've been successful in bringing this issue from the bottom of the list of political problems. For years it wasn't even considered political and nobody wanted to talk about the relationship between social welfare, income and the ability to travel between city and suburbs, to work and to school, etc.

We're aiming for free public transport and we're still a far way from it. We've yet to see what we're going to do about it next.

What is the role of the SUF in this campaign? What advice if any would you have for others who are campaigning around the issues of public transport?
The only thing left over from the time when planka.nu was an SUF initiative are the anarcho-syndicalist values. SUF has no ongoing organisational role in the campaign.

The most important advice is definitely don't underestimate the media, don't be afraid of using it, and remember: You can do it!

Edited by libcom.org news from Workers Solidarity #89

More information
http://iww.org
http://planka.nu/index.php?lang=eng