Dock workers in Sweden are threatening to block deliveries of new Teslas entering the country, in the most serious labor dispute the company has faced in Europe to date.
Teslas arrive into Sweden via four ports, Malmö, Gothenburg, Trelleborg, and Södertälje, according to the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union, which represents 57,000 workers in the transport industry and has threatened the blockade. It’s planned to start on November 7, and if it goes ahead, “no Teslas will be able to enter Sweden,” says union chairman Tommy Wreeth.
Workers at the port do not work directly for Tesla. The union’s members are threatening the blockade in support of workers at Tesla’s Swedish repair shops, who do work for Tesla and who have been on strike since last Friday. They walked off the job to protest the company’s refusal to sign a collective agreement with the union that represents them, IF Metall.
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.”
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