Tesla Bringing Scab Workers into Sweden to Break Strike

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One year after the Swedish union IF Metall called for a strike against Tesla, car manufacturer still refuses to negotiate a collective agreement. Moreover, Tesla has taken a rare measure in Europe of importing scabs, flying in staff from other Tesla plants in Europe to replace the striking workers in Sweden.*

“It has been a year of strike at Tesla and Elon Musk’s total disrespect for the Swedish model, which has successfully governed the country’s labor market for nearly 100 years, stands in stark contrast to other multinational companies in the country. It is unacceptable and the striking workers have the full support of the 50 million members of IndustriALL behind them,” said IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie today.

In Sweden, twelve other unions have joined with sympathy strikes. Unions representing electricians, longshoremen and postal delivery, are taking action. This means, among other things, that Tesla cars are not offloaded in Swedish ports, no work is done on Tesla charging stations and registration plates are not delivered. The sympathy strikes have also spread to the ports in neighboring Nordic countries, where Danish, Norwegian and Finnish unions are also taking action.

Picket lines outside Tesla garages are operated not only by striking Tesla workers, but workers from companies with collective agreements with IF Metall. In a show of solidarity, IndustriALL and ITUC visited the striking workers in Gothenburg earlier this month.

Workers from Volvo Trucks stood strong outside the garage on a picket line manned for eight hours per day, seven days a week. IF Metall sets up a roster using workers from companies in the region with a collective agreement. Workers are allowed time off for strike action and IF Metall pays the wages for the strike days.

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund, one of the largest pension funds in the world, owns ~1% of Tesla, making it one of the largest owners. The CEO of the fund recently told Swedish radio that they meet Tesla management and board on a regular basis and continue to repeat the need for a collective agreement to be signed. Empty talk in AutoInformed’s view.

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