The city's blower should not have been fired, the verdict shows, and the municipality must pay damages to Ludvig Olsson of SEK 60,000.
The dispute between the tower guards and the municipality has concerned whether one of the tower guards should be considered permanently employed or not. The municipality has said hourly employee while the union has claimed that its member is a permanent employee.
- I am above all happy to be able to come back to the tower and be able to continue the union work with a more secure job in the back. The damages feel less important to me, says tower keeper Ludvig Olsson, in a press release.
- Above all, we are happy that Ludvig can return to the tower with a more secure job in the back. Now we have had it confirmed, says Christopher Ståhl, member of Malmö LS (Local Co-organization) of SAC (Swedish Workers' Central Organization) and one of those involved in the case, to SVT Nyheter Skåne.
Can be a guiding judgment- This is a victory for all hourly employees in general, which we hope will now be able to get permanent employment, Christopher Ståhl continues.
Does this mean that the tower guard now gets a permanent job?
- I assume that the municipality complies with today's ruling, says Christopher Ståhl, member of Malmö LS of SAC.
During the battle, the tower guards, among other things, "blew the wrong way" to get their demands through.
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Ludvig Olsson is one of the tower guards who has protested against Ystad municipality. Photo: Leonora ToplicaBackground
The tower in St. Mary's Church, where the tower guards work, was temporarily closed in December 2019 for repairs. After that, Ystad Municipality stopped paying salaries to the tower guards. Ludvig Olsson had then worked as a tower guard for over 3 years.
His union, KYDS (Kulturförvaltningen i Ystads Driftsektion), said that he had been wrongly fired and sued Ystad municipality to the Labor Court. Ystad Municipality, for its part, said that the tower guards had hourly jobs and were booked for individual passes at a time.
- It is not easy to make changes in a workplace where everyone is an hourly employee and can get rid of the job at any time. That is why we started this process to begin with, says Ludvig Olsson.
SVT has contacted Ystad municipality for a comment.