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IMMIGRATION

Sweden: What’s the problem?

OPINION: Jim Walch, an American living in Sweden, reflects on immigration and his adopted country.

Published: 24 February 2017 13:59 CET
Updated: 24 February 2017 16:59 CET
Sweden: What's the problem?
File photo of people in Sweden. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

In Sweden, as elsewhere, defining a problem can be problematic.

In 2015, when some 160,000 refugees sought asylum in Sweden, the small town of Norberg was asked to do their part. When asked by a reporter if taking in a few hundred refugees in a town of only 7,000 wouldn't be a big problem, the mayor replied: “A few years ago we managed to stop the big forest fire just two hundred yards from the town. Now THAT was a problem. Managing a few hundred new arrivals is a challenge, not a problem.” She was also using the new term “new arrivals” or “newly arrived”.

I hope you don't have a problem with a little math: 300 is 4.3 percent in a population of seven thousand. 160,000 is 1.6 percent in a population of ten million. 1.6 percent of the US population is 5.2 million.

The local newspaper just arrived. Free, since it's mostly ads, but its local news is almost as good as social media. The conservative mayor has proclaimed that our little city, a suburb of Stockholm, is going to be number one in the country in integration. So the council is launching a programme for all new arrivals – or should we call them arrivees? Not just language training and general civics, but some real local information about Sollentuna: from Viking graves to hi-tech businesses and how we're already number one, really great, in environmental protection. A competition in humanity.

I also see in the local paper that a minor problem has been resolved. Our local cobbler, son of a Lebanese war refugee who taught him the trade, has finally found a better shop, right in the middle of our very own show-case shopping center. His motto seems to be: buy good shoes and keep them in repair. Good for you and good for the environment. Seems to make sense, even though some of the buy-and-discard shops he neighbours may not agree.

Home ownership is not always fun, so many things crop up that need to be done on the ever-growing project list. So I'm happy that I don't have to repaint this summer. The last repainting, done by refugees from war-torn Bosnia, was well done. They also run a father-son business.

Sorry if this epistle got a little erratic. I had to break off to feed a conglomerate of grandkids who suddenly announced that they had to be off early for another one of their many activities they forgot to tell us about. One of them, in eighth grade, told us about her new science teacher. “He seems nice. A little nervous. But is was his first day in our class.” She's in an advanced math and science programme. “He's from Ethiopia, so that's cool.”

In the middle of dinner preparations, my wife had to excuse herself. She's legal guardian for an Afghan boy. His father was murdered by the Taliban, his family scattered in Pakistan and Iran. He managed his way to Sweden. His civil rights lawyer, originally from Armenia and Iran, has fallen ill so the wife has to spend several hours on the phone today, and tomorrow, to re-schedule his long-awaited interview with the migration authorities. So I guess she'll be coming along as usual to our tutoring session at the local high school with new arrivees.

Oops. I see by my prized pocket-watch, refurbished by an Armenian who had fled first to Lebanon and then to Sweden, that it's time for the news. Maybe some more things on problems in Sweden.

Jim Walch is a retired university teacher. Originally from Wisconsin, he has been living in Sweden since 1965. Besides numerous grandchildren, he makes and repairs musical instruments.

Do you live in Sweden and want to share your views? E-mail [email protected].

FOOD AND DRINK

OPINION: Are tips in Sweden becoming the norm?

Should you tip in Sweden? Habits are changing fast thanks to new technology and a hard-pressed restaurant trade, writes James Savage.

Published: 5 April 2024 13:59 CEST
OPINION: Are tips in Sweden becoming the norm?

The Local’s guide to tipping in Sweden is clear: tip for good service if you want to, but don’t feel the pressure: where servers in the US, for instance, rely on tips to live, waiters in Sweden have collectively bargained salaries with long vacations and generous benefits. 

But there are signs that this is changing, and the change is being accelerated by card machines. Now, many machines offer three preset gratuity percentages, usually starting with five percent and going up to fifteen or twenty. Previously they just asked the customer to fill in the total amount they wanted to pay.

This subtle change to a user interface sends a not-so-subtle message to customers: that tipping is expected and that most people are probably doing it. The button for not tipping is either a large-lettered ‘No Tip’ or a more subtle ‘Fortsätt’ or ‘Continue’ (it turns out you can continue without selecting a tip amount, but it’s not immediately clear to the user). 

I’ll confess, when I was first presented with this I was mildly irked: I usually tip if I’ve had table service, but waiting staff are treated as professionals and paid properly, guaranteed by deals with unions; menu prices are correspondingly high. The tip was a genuine token of appreciation.

But when I tweeted something to this effect (a tweet that went strangely viral), the responses I got made me think. Many people pointed out that the restaurant trade in Sweden is under enormous pressure, with rising costs, the after-effects of Covid and difficulties recruiting. And as Sweden has become more cosmopolitain, adding ten percent to the bill comes naturally to many.

Boulebar, a restaurant and bar chain with branches around Sweden and Denmark, had a longstanding policy of not accepting tips at all, reasoning that they were outdated and put diners in an uncomfortable position. But in 2021 CEO Henrik Kruse decided to change tack:

“It was a purely financial decision. We were under pressure due to Covid, and we had to keep wages down, so bringing back tips was the solution,” he said, adding that he has a collective agreement and staff also get a union bargained salary, before tips.

Yet for Kruse the new machines, with their pre-set tipping percentages, take things too far:

“We don’t use it, because it makes it even clearer that you’re asking for money. The guest should feel free not to tip. It’s more important for us that the guest feels free to tell people they’re satisfied.”

But for those restaurants that have adopted the new interfaces, the effect has been dramatic. Card processing company Kassacentralen, which was one of the first to launch this feature in Sweden, told Svenska Dagbladet this week that the feature had led to tips for the average establishment doubling, with some places seeing them rise six-fold.

Even unions are relaxed about tipping these days, perhaps understanding that they’re a significant extra income for their members. Union representatives have often in the past spoken out against tipping, arguing that the practice is demeaning to staff and that tips were spread unevenly, with staff in cafés or fast food joints getting nothing at all. But when I called the Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Union (HRF), a spokesman said that the union had no view on the practice, and it was a matter for staff, business owners and customers to decide.

So is tipping now expected in Sweden? The old advice probably still stands; waiters are still not as reliant on tips as staff in many other countries, so a lavish tip is not necessary. But as Swedes start to tip more generously, you might stick out if you leave nothing at all.

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