Sweden
Strike at car manufacturers leads to demonstrations of sympathy by dock workers, painters and postal workers in the fight for the Swedish working model
Thu, November 23, 2023, 11:32 a.m. GMT
Elon Musk has condemned a wave of “insane” strikes focused on Tesla workshops in Sweden, as workers target the US electric car maker in a strike for collective bargaining rights.
In what is said to be the biggest fight in decades to save the Swedish union model from global labor practices, the powerful union IF Metall is leading a five-week strike at eight Tesla workplaces in Sweden.
It’s the first time the US automaker’s workers have gone on strike, and on Thursday Musk, the tech billionaire and Tesla CEO, made his feelings clear, writing on X, formerly Twitter: “This is crazy.”
He was responding to a social media post about secondary or sympathy strikes by the Swedish Postal Service that prevent license plates from getting to new Tesla cars.
IF Metall, which has more than 300,000 members in the Swedish industry, has said it will “continue”. [with the strikes] as long as necessary.” It says it took action after Tesla refused to sign a collective bargaining agreement with its members.
Collective agreements, which regulate conditions such as salary, pension, working hours and holidays and mean that, in theory, unions and employers regulate the labor market and not the state, are considered the cornerstone of the Swedish labor market model.
Although union membership in Sweden has declined in recent decades, many workers are still in unions and around nine out of ten workers have collective agreements.
The Tesla strike has drawn secondary action from eight other unions and threatens to spread to neighboring Norway, where Fellesförbundet (the United Confederation of Trade Unions), the country’s largest private sector union, has agreed to take sympathetic action.
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Marie Nilsson, the leader of IF Metall, said the strike was not only a fight for Tesla workers, but also to protect the Swedish union model. “If we allow companies like Tesla to operate without a collective agreement, it will open the door for other international companies and other industries,” she said. “It may take a long time,” she added. “We will continue for as long as it takes.”
The strike has received support from transport and port workers who have refused to load or unload Tesla cars at all Swedish ports; electricians who refused to perform maintenance or repair work in Tesla workshops; and charging stations and painters who don’t work on Tesla cars. Other sympathy strikes also include those by service and communications employees who have stopped distributing mail and shipments to Tesla.
“We are well prepared for a longer conflict,” said Jesper Pettersson, spokesman for IF Metall. “Unfortunately, we are currently not in ongoing discussions with Tesla Sweden, but as always we will be available for further discussions as soon as possible.”
The action also appears to be affecting companies outside of Tesla. Shortly after the Tesla strike began, Swedish global payments company Klarna signed a collective agreement, preventing a planned strike at its Stockholm headquarters.
Klarna’s co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski then referred to the Swedish model and said: “I am convinced that we will benefit from this agreement and that Klarna can help strengthen the Swedish model from within.”
The Malacca Highway ship on the shore while port workers block the loading of Tesla vehicles in Malmö. Photo: Tt News Agency/Portal
Some commentators have suggested that the action at Tesla could trigger talks at the Swedish division of Spotify, the streaming company, which withdrew from talks over a collective bargaining agreement earlier this year, saying it did not believe it would have “a significant impact.” Employees would bring added value.
In Norway, where Fellesförbundet says about 500 Tesla employees are organized, union leader Jørn Eggum said this would prevent Swedish Teslas from being imported into the country. “Norway should not be a transit country for Tesla to get away with strikebreaking,” he told broadcaster NRK earlier this month. “We must hold Tesla accountable and require them to abide by collective bargaining agreements in the European countries where they operate.”
Jesper Hamark, an economic history researcher and visiting scholar at the University of Gothenburg, said the strike was about defending the Scandinavian model against the American one.
He compared it to the 1995 strikes at Toys R Us, which the unions won, and said: “My guess is that without a collective agreement, Tesla will not stay in Sweden. The union will win. I have a hard time imagining unions collapsing. The question is too important.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Spotify declined to comment.
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