Starting Friday, dockworkers in all Swedish ports will refuse to offload Teslas, cleaning crews will no longer clean showrooms, and mechanics won’t fix charging points as the labor dispute rages on.

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.”

  • @CAVOKEnglish
    8•1 year ago

    Not a fan of Tesla, but they’re not breaking any laws here.

    There is an agreement between the employer organisation and the unions on how to deal with things in order to keep the government out of it. It’s called “The Swedish model”. This is what Tesla doesn’t want to sign up to.

    IF Metall tried to get Tesla to the table to talk for five years, unsuccessfully, so here we are. Nobody wants the strike, but what can you do?

    • @[email protected]English
      14•1 year ago

      Just adding in: The Swedish modell is the reason there is no minimum wage in Sweden. It’s expected that the employer and employee organisations negotiate the terms.

      An employer who tries to avoid such negotiations is in fact getting unfair competitive advantage.

      This is not just about people getting a fair wage. It’s about not letting Tesla cheat.

    • lemmyvoreEnglish
      6•1 year ago

      True, I should have said that it breaks established procedure rather than the law. But they’re walking on thin ice because union collusion as a response is legal.

      I still can’t wrap my head around the fact they walked in knowing this will happen, and I wonder what their long term plan was.

      May I ask, are the jobs at Tesla particularly interesting or well-paid? Why don’t the people simply walk away from an employer who won’t sign a collective agreement? Is it a cultural thing to strike rather than walk?