About 20 students in colourful shirts gathered in Hvitfeldtska's schoolyard at lunchtime on Friday. They brought with them a list of more than 300 names.
It is the students Matilda Simán and David Sällström who started the petition "Justice for Ulf", after they learned that the school janitor Ulf Byström resigned in protest because he did not want the work clothes the employer demanded.
– We love Ulf, he is a real joy spreader and is so helpful. When we heard that he had resigned because he was not allowed to wear the clothes he wanted, we were very sad and frustrated, says student Matilda Simán.
Can't it be appropriate to wear work clothes in the workplace?
– Definitely, but in workplaces where it is needed as a healthcare professional. After all, they need it to protect themselves and their surroundings.
Teachers join the protest
Teachers also joined the manifestation.
– I have chosen to dress colourfully to support Ulf who I think was treated unfairly and to show solidarity with a colleague who is very popular and appreciated, says Jenny Homann, teacher at Hvitfeldtska gymnasiet.
"Important symbolic value"
Jonas Lundmark is the head of the school district for, among others, Hvitfeldtska gymnasiet. He has previously written to SVT that all janitors at other schools have work clothes and that "we believe that it is an important symbolic value for janitors to have work clothes, for example, for students and staff at the school, when deliveries, craftsmen and other visitors arrive."
"Nice to get some support"
Ulf Byström, who is working his last weeks as a school janitor, meets with applause in the schoolyard.
"Here, too, many people have expressed that they have dared to be a little different, and I like that. That you dare to be different, not just square, says Ulf Byström.
Start the clip to see when janitor Ulf meets the students in the colorful shirts.