Swedish workers are uniting against Tesla. From tomorrow, cleaners will stop cleaning Tesla showrooms, electricians won’t fix the company’s charging points, and dockworkers will refuse to unload Tesla cargo at all Swedish ports. What started as a strike by Tesla mechanics is spreading, in something Swedish unions describe as an existential battle between Elon Musk’s carmaker and the conventions they say make the country’s labor market fair and efficient.
The standoff in Sweden is the biggest union action the company has faced anywhere in the world. Sweden doesn’t have laws that set working conditions, such as a minimum wage. Instead these rules are dictated by collective agreements, a type of contract that defines the benefits employees are entitled to, such as wages and working hours. For five years, industrial workers’ union IF Metall, which represents Tesla mechanics, has been trying to persuade the company to sign a collective agreement. When Tesla refused, the mechanics decided to strike at the end of October. Then they asked fellow Swedish unions to join them.
“Collective agreements form the backbone of the Swedish labor market model,” says Mikael Pettersson, head of negotiations at the electricians’ union, which plans to join the blockade tomorrow. “Fighting for the Swedish model becomes even more crucial when it involves such a large company as Tesla.”
The beauty is, that this is in fact a free market and total freedom.
No no no but not like that
Man, nice to see solidarity in action. It’s a rare thing in North America.
Isn’t action like this a crime in the US? I thought I remembered reading that somewhere.
a TINY little fact check would be advisable here. Because: Tesla mechanics did NOT start a strike. It was announced by a lobby group, but none of them went to strike, as they claimed they were content with their conditions, got paid decently and therefore saw no reason to go on strike.
The much I welcome workers fighting for their rights, the current situation looks a LOT like a union trying to mobilize as many of their members as possible to prove they’re relevant - by choosing a high profile target as victim. Actions like these don’t benefit the workers at all. It only strengthens the union and those in charge in it. In the end, it’ll be the workers who will have to suffer, as Tesla will probably switch to similar anti-worker-measures like many other car manufacturers already use them already
This is completely wrong and a complete misinterpretation of the situation. Tesla is breaking the law in Sweden by not having a group contact with the workers, and a strike is precisely what the law allows as remedy.
Tesla was not picked on because they’re high profile, they were chosen because they’re one of the few companies clueless enough to open a factory in Sweden without a group contract.
The only amazing thing is how the hell did they manage to function for five years without it.
Minor caveat - Tesla doesn’t have a factory in Sweden, their presence is in the form of stores, mechanics and service staff for superchargers (and maybe something else I’m not aware of)
