Swedish Dock Workers Threaten To Block Tesla Deliveries

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Dock workers in Sweden might prevent deliveries of new Teslas into the country’s four ports, Wired writes, because the automotive company has a disregard for local labor laws. The Swedish Transport Workers’ Union is set to begin striking on Nov. 7.

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The strike would be undertaken in support of workers at Tesla’s repair shops in the country, who have been on strike for a week now after the company refused to sign a collective agreement with their union.

From Wired:

In Sweden, collective agreements regulate the relationship between employers and their employees, including terms of pay, pensions, working conditions, and other benefits. It’s not mandatory for a company to sign a collective agreement, but it is convention. Around 90 percent of Swedish employees are covered by these arrangements.

“We would like our members working at Tesla to have the same benefits as basically everybody else on the Swedish labor market,” says Jesper Pettersson, spokesperson for IF Metall. “We don’t see any reason why Tesla should play by different rules.”

Tesla has proven time and again that it dislikes unions, and this particular dispute revolves around the claim that Tesla repair workers in Sweden earn less and lack similar pensions and insurance programs when compared to other mechanics. However, the strike by repair workers has been largely ineffective; should the dock workers join this strike to prevent Teslas from being delivered, then the mechanics’ demands my be more readily met.

The Tesla mechanic strike is, according to IndustriALL, the first strike against Tesla in the company’y short history. It follows five years of refusal by Tesla’s Swedish subsidiary to recognize and negotiate a collective agreement for the 120 mechanics and service technicians who care for the Teslas of the country. The strike has since been expanded to include all mechanics at all shops, not just Tesla-only shops; no mechanic will service a Tesla in Sweden until demands are met.