The Swedes have brought Tesla to a standstill. Billionaire Elon Musk’s company refuses to negotiate with the Swedish union over wages and working conditions. As a result, 120 Tesla mechanics went on strike. Workers in transportation, postal services, cleaning, and other industries quickly joined the strike. Now, the strike could potentially spread to other European countries.
Elon Musk is far from a friend of labor unions. The billionaire and CEO of Tesla and X (formerly Twitter) have been cracking down on worker organizing in his companies worldwide. Union members at Elon Musk’s companies are fired, and their activities are spied upon.
This anti-union policy is now being pursued by the billionaire in Sweden as well. However, Swedish unions are not backing down. What started as a conflict between Tesla management and 120 Swedish workers has now paralyzed the company. The likelihood of the conflict expanding to other European countries is increasing.
Musk is against collective bargaining agreements
In Sweden, as in most European countries, wages and working conditions are regulated by collective bargaining agreements. Unions negotiate a contract with management that applies to all employees.
Musk and Tesla, however, do not support such collective bargaining negotiations. Those who want to work at Tesla must negotiate wages and working conditions individually with management. The result for most Tesla employees is that they earn less than their counterparts in other companies in the industry.
Tesla is in constant conflict with labor unions. However, the electric car company is likely to face a tough challenge from Sweden’s labor unions. Foto (unsplash)
This is also the case in Sweden. There, 120 mechanics in Tesla’s Swedish subsidiary are said to earn less than the industry average and have worse pension and insurance conditions. For years, the Swedish Metalworkers’ Union has been trying to convince Tesla to sign a collective bargaining agreement to address this issue. However, the company has not budged, leading the 120 Tesla mechanics to go on strike.
Post, transportation, suppliers – no one wants to work for Tesla anymore
The 120 mechanics, however, were not alone for long. Dockworkers supported the Tesla workers and blocked the import of new Tesla vehicles through the country’s ports. Workers at a Tesla supplier, Hydro Extrusions, which manufactures aluminum components for Tesla, are also now supporting the strike. Production has come to a halt until Tesla meets the demands of its workers.
Taxi drivers, cleaning staff, and painters have also joined the strike. Stockholm’s largest taxi company no longer buys Teslas for its fleet, cleaning staff refuse to clean Tesla buildings, and painters refuse to repaint Teslas.
Cleaning staff, in solidarity with the striking Tesla mechanics, refuse to clean Tesla’s buildings.
However, Tesla is particularly affected by the actions of the state-owned postal company, Post Nord. In Sweden, vehicle license plates are only sent from a central location: Post Nord. Post employees are now refusing to send license plates for Tesla.