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Tesla Is Fighting With Sweden’s Unions. Here’s What to Know. [1]

['Melissa Eddy']

Date: 2023-12-07

Weeks after mechanics working for Tesla in Sweden walked off their jobs in late October, members of other unions across the country and elsewhere in Scandinavia have joined the strike in sympathy by refusing to provide services to Tesla to pressure the automaker to sign a collective agreement with its Swedish workers.

The strike in Sweden, by mechanics represented by the trade union IF Metall, was the first labor action against Tesla, the U.S. maker of electric vehicles founded 20 years ago and run by Elon Musk. In the weeks since, the strike has spread beyond Sweden after dockworkers in Denmark said they would stop unloading Tesla vehicles at ports around the country.

The latest

A regional pension fund, PensionDanmark, has sold its shares in Tesla, citing the company’s “very categorical denial to reach collective agreements in any country.”

The transport workers’ union in Finland voted to join a boycott of all Tesla vehicles and components destined for Sweden beginning Dec. 20.

A Swedish court ruling denied Tesla’s bid to end a labor blockade of its mail delivery, including license plates, pending a final ruling.

How it started

Tesla does not make cars in Sweden, and the country is a relatively small market for the automaker. Not all of the mechanics at its seven service centers are taking part in the strike. But the labor action has drawn widening support from other unions including dockworkers, electrical and postal workers, and now from an institutional investor.

Unions say Tesla is flouting Sweden’s tradition of collective agreements. About 90 percent of Swedish workers are covered by these agreements, which apply to nonunion employees and set work conditions across industries. They have a long history in Nordic countries and are widely seen as crucial to maintaining social cohesion and a high standard of living.

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/business/tesla-sweden-union.html?searchResultPosition=4

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