Tesla Faces its First Ever Strike after Refusing to Negotiate with Swedish Union
The strike was initiated by IF Metall after five years of Tesla refusing to negotiate a collective agreement.
It is the first formal labor conflict called against Tesla anywhere in the world.
The National Mediation Office summoned both parties, but Tesla's representatives quickly withdrew from negotiations.
The strike was then extended to include all repair shops servicing Tesla vehicles in Sweden.
Swedish employer unions have also pressured Tesla to cave and align with the country's labour model.
Strikebreakers have been sent in, a tactic forbidden since the 1930s by agreement between the Swedish unions and employers. (Ie. not illegal but liable to make the entire country hate you.)
As noted by Atle Høie, general secretary of IndustriALL, an industrial union confederation representing 50 million workers in 140 countries: “Elon Musk’s business model is to avoid respecting human rights. Now he is taken on by one of our strongest unions. We must defeat the Tesla business model, and Sweden is the best place to start.”
Sweden has one of the highest rates of unionization out of the Nordics (which have the highest rates of unionization globally alongside Cuba and Vietnam) and the thing about that is you get sympathy strikes:
Tesla is failing to play by Swedish labor rules, unions claim. Now a strike that started with mechanics is beginning to spread.
There's already talk of launching similar strikes here in Norway if the Swedes aren't heard. For an idea of what happens if they keep this up, let's look at the time McDonald's tried these kinds of tactics:
Or Toys R Us:
Tesla's presence in the country is limited compared to those, but I think it's fair to say their choice is going to be between pulling out or caving to their demands, because these kinds of threats to union power are not tolerated.
If you've seen news declaring the strike was called off and that the workers are all happy with their jobs: It's misinfo, those are scabs, the strike is on and it could very well break Tesla's resistance to unionization and trigger a domino effect in other countries if the Swedes win out.
It's confirmed, Tesla is doubling down and the strikes are ramping up!!
The import blockade began in select cities today, and Tesla has already tired to get around it. The unions have responded by extending the blockade to every port in the country, with further measures in the works if Musk refuses to budge.
With Musk controlling Twitter/X now, discussions about it on there are predictably filled with trolls and detractors. The workers at Tesla could all be tremendously happy with their jobs and it would not change the fact that this is an attack on the entire labour model that gives other workers decent conditions. This is not just about Tesla, it's about preventing it from setting a precedent for other employers.
IF Metall have asked people to talk about this on social media, particularly on X, to counteract Musk's army of trolls and build awareness and support for the strikes, so please do if you can. Here's an up-to-date (Nov 7th) article in English which you can share:
Port workers will from lunchtime block the loading of vehicles from the American auto giant. The blockade will take effect at 12 noon on Tue
Talk about it! Post about it! (Be more concise than me about it!) The hate they're getting from Musk's shills on X right now is insane.
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