Tesla employees in Sweden quit their jobs on Friday to protest the American automaker’s refusal to sign a collective agreement on wages, the IF Metall union said on Friday.
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The strike affects the 130 Tesla mechanics in seven workshops across Sweden, Jesper Pettersson, spokesman for the metal workers’ union, told AFP.
These employees have “lower salaries, not the same insurance and lower pensions” compared to other workers in the industry, he said.
Collective agreements negotiated on a sector-by-sector basis form the basis of the Swedish labor market model. They cover almost 90% of all Swedish workers and guarantee them minimum salaries and working conditions.
According to IF Metall, which has 300,000 members, these agreements are also beneficial for companies as they allow them to operate “on an equal footing” in the same field.
“Many” Tesla workers are members of IF Metall, Mr. Pettersson explained, without wanting to give an exact number.
Despite being unionized, Tesla workers do not benefit from industry-specific collective bargaining agreements because their company has not signed the collective bargaining agreement.
According to Mr. Pettersson, Tesla announced on Tuesday that it would not sign a collective bargaining agreement and the automaker told the union that it “does not do this anywhere in the world.”
Tesla did not respond to requests from AFP.
The American electric car specialist has always rejected calls for unionization of its 127,000 employees worldwide.
Strikers in Sweden receive financial compensation from the union equal to their salary.
If Tesla does not change its position, the strike will extend to all other workshops where Tesla cars are repaired, and not just those where employees of the American company are employed.