Bosses lift shorts ban after Swedish train drivers wore skirts in protest
AFP JUNE 11, 2013 2:19AM
Swedish train drivers have won their battle to be allowed to wear shorts to work.
MALE staff on some of Stockholm's commuter trains who wore skirts to work in protest have emerged victorious after their employer lifted a ban on wearing shorts, transport company Arriva has announced.
Around 15 male train drivers and other workers last week wore skirts on the suburban Roslagsbanan train service to circumvent the shorts ban, saying temperatures inside the carriages could reach 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) on a sunny day.
"We received so many suggestions from our staff, and we listened to them and decided to change our minds on this issue," Arriva spokesman Tomas Hedenius said.
"We're talking to the union and looking at how to do this. Our aim is that they should receive the (uniform) shorts this summer," he added.
The new rules will apply to all Arriva employees in Sweden.
The move came just one day after the transport group said its dress code wouldn't be reviewed until this autumn, and the company admitted widespread media coverage had spurred its decision.
"Our policy is that you have to look well dressed and proper when representing Arriva, and that means trousers if you're a man and a skirt if you're a woman, but no shorts," Hedenius told AFP on Sunday.
Around 47,000 passengers travel on the Roslagsbanan service every day according to Stockholm Public Transport (SL).
