The SAC Civil Courage Award 2024
Bob Kojo and Mohamed Elsamani will receive the SAC Civil Courage Award 2024 for their courage in standing up for the rights of their colleagues at the risk of facing negative consequences themselves. This civil courage, which has been ongoing for several years, has left a strong impression on their colleagues. You can read an interview with Bob Kojo here.
The nomination for the SAC Civil Courage Award was given to Bob Kojo by two comrades in the Gothenburg Local Labor Union (Göteborgs LS av SAC). Bob continued to go to work and stand up for his rights, even under tough negotiations and veiled threats. When the Gothenburg Local staged a blockade to collect unpaid wages, the company bowed and paid the unpaid wages and coughed up a proper contract.
Photo: Tim Persson
Syndikalisten talked to Bob in English in a telephone interview.
How did you feel when you found out you had won the SAC Civil Courage Award?
– It felt great. It was the first time I heard about it, and I received it right away.
Bob’s workplace is a pizzeria where he has worked for 3-4 years.
What was not good about the workplace?
– Several people in the workplace didn’t respect me because I have a different skin color than them, Bob answers and tells us about other factors that made him have enough.
Before Bob spoke out, the pay was SEK 30 an hour and shifts could be 12 hours long, lasting for long periods without a rest day.
– It was supposed to be an eight-hour day, but the boss said there was more to do and I couldn’t go home until it was done. It was late nights.
Bob was not paid for every single hour he worked.
He adds that there have always been good colleagues too, who have stood by him. However, many of his colleagues are afraid of the management and therefore do not dare to take action.
Bob heard about Räddningsmissionen (The Rescue Mission) in Gothenburg, a non-profit organization that carries out social work with the goal that no one should be left out. He contacted them and told them about his situation at work. The Gothenburg Local was then contacted by Räddningsmissionen.
The untenable situation at the pizzeria had been going on for about a year when negotiators from the Gothenburg Local Labor Union helped Bob to start a process against the employer.
– I told my employer how it should be, what my rights are and we started negotiating.
Bob experienced many threatening situations at work after contacting the labor union.
– Management told me that if I continued to use the labor union, I would be fired.
Other threats were also made to intimidate Bob and his colleagues.
The first negotiation took place at the beginning of the summer 2022, after the Gothenburg Local presented what the employer had done wrong and what Bob was entitled to. The company didn’t want to pay Bob the wages he was owed, so a blockade was put in place. The manager then agreed to negotiate and finally Bob and his labor union felt that the measures had paid off.
Thanks to Bob, the situation for workers at the pizzeria looks much better. Bob’s strength to speak out also gives his colleagues courage, and he has encouraged more people to join the labor union.
– Things are good at work now, says Bob.
Before Bob moved to Sweden and got a job at the pizzeria, he had worked at Ikea in Italy. That’s where his strength grew, the courage to change.
– I had 30 good years there. We had a good community in the workplace and fought together for our rights.
Solveig Betnér
SAC:s informationsorganisatör