© REUTERS
The president of IF Metall Stockholms, Emma Hanson, is on strike outside the Tesla service center in Segeltorp in solidarity with workers who want the company to sign a collective agreement with them. Stockholm, October 27, 2023.
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Elon Musk described as “insane” the strikes by Swedish workers that began five weeks ago, blocking normal production at Tesla’s sites in Sweden. Swedish workers have gone on strike against the electric car maker, calling for collective bargaining of their labor rights.
The powerful IF Metall union is leading strike action at eight Tesla locations in the Scandinavian country amid the biggest battle in decades to save Sweden’s union model from global labor practices. IF Metall has more than 300,000 members in the Swedish industry and said it “will continue [със стачките] for as long as it takes,” that is, while Musk revises Tesla’s refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement with its members.
This is the first case – not only in Sweden, but globally – that workers of the American car manufacturer have gone on strike. The main strike triggered secondary strikes in other industries, including among the Swedish postal services. They are effectively supporting the demands of Tesla workers by preventing license plates from reaching new Tesla cars.
“This is crazy,” Musk wrote in a comment on his online platform X (Twitter).
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Collective agreements cover working conditions, including salary, pension, working hours and holidays. In theory, unions and employers regulate the labor market, not the state, which is why collective agreements are seen as a cornerstone of Sweden’s labor market model.
Although union membership in Sweden has declined in recent decades, many workers are still represented in unions – around 9 out of 10 employees have collective agreements, notes the Guardian.
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The Tesla strike has attracted secondary action from eight other unions and threatens to spread to neighboring Norway, where the country’s largest private sector union, the United Federation of Trade Unions (Fellesförbundet), has said it is ready to lend support.
“We are prepared for a prolonged conflict. Unfortunately, we currently have no ongoing negotiations with Tesla Sweden, but as always we are available for further negotiations as soon as possible,” IF Metall spokesman Jesper Petersson said.
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“Norway should not be a transit country for Tesla to get away with, thwarting strike action. We need to hold Tesla accountable and get them to commit to collective agreements in the European countries where they operate,” said earlier this month Fellesförbundet leader Jorn Egum. About 500 Tesla employees are organized in the Fellesförbundet.
“My guess is that Tesla will not stay in Sweden without a collective agreement. The union will win. It’s hard for me to see the unions breaking up. The issue is too important,” Jesper Hammark, a researcher of economic history and visiting researcher at the University of Gothenburg.
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