Sweden’s largest union joins strike against Tesla

The struggle between Tesla and the organised labor union in Sweden is intensifying as the nation’s leading union supports a six-month-old strike by mechanics’ at the EV maker. Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, is the primary cause of the standoff as he does not want to sign a collective bargaining agreement which makes the metal workers’ union the only negotiator of deals for the whole workforce.

Though Musk last month said that the labor dispute has passed in the country where Tesla’s Model Y is the most popular car, IF Metall – the metal workers’ union, says that the strike is still on. Around 44 union members, which is around a third of Tesla’s Swedish mechanics, have stopped working at the company that is majorly service-based rather than making vehicles in Sweden.

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IF Metall’s President, Marie Nilsson, told Reuters that the talks between the two companies have not made any significant progress, and the Tesla President has shown the least concern to settle the conflict. A lot of unions have teamed up with the IF Metall campaign, and the most famous one of them is Unionen, which emphasises the protection of the collective agreement system.

Martin Wastfeldt, the negotiation leader of the Union, emphasises on the fact that they won’t give up by starting a blockade that will affect all the activities of Tesla at DEKRA Industrial AB, a company that is responsible for the inspection of equipment. Unionen is ready to take more actions such as, to go after the dealer of Tesla’s license plate or the administrative departments of the internal affairs.

Among the significant problems of the conflict is the problem of license plates’ access, and Tesla has even taken the legal case to the courts to fight the unions that hindered its postal services. Tesla has often claimed that its Swedish staffs are on the same or better terms as those demanded by the union. This conflict will have major consequences for Tesla’s worldwide view on unionisation, especially if Tesla follows the same path as in Sweden or if the strike expands to the larger markets like Germany.