For four months, a strike has intensified in the Swedish car sector, targeting Tesla in particular. This Wednesday, the Swedish trade union announced a new protest measure by simply blocking Tesla Superchargers from March 4th.

This decision was taken by the trade union of service and communication workers as a sign of solidarity with the strike movement that started four months ago. At the heart of this conflict, Tesla’s refusal to sign a collective wage agreementwhich calls into question the Swedish social model based on these sectoral agreements.

Chronology of the long conflict

The conflict began on October 27 when 130 Tesla mechanics at ten workshops across Sweden went on strike to protest Tesla’s refusal to participate in collective wage negotiations. This social movement then spread to the neighboring Scandinavian countries, uniting a dozen trade unions from different sectors who oppose Tesla, with the support, in particular, of postal workers and dockers. The action announced by the union will include blocking expansion, repair and maintenance work at all Tesla car charging stations in Sweden, as well as suspending the supply of license plates for the brand’s cars.
These agreements, agreed sector by sector, cover almost 90% of employees in Sweden and 80% of employees in Denmark, regulate working conditions and establish minimum wages. However, Tesla workers, though unionized, do not benefit from these agreements because their company refuses to sign them.

The pressure on Tesla is growing

Tesla, for its part, has long resisted calls to unionize its workers. 127,000 employees worldwide. Even so, only a third of Swedish mechanics responded to a strike call by IF Metall this week, according to figures from the National Mediation Office, cited by the DN daily. “Even if you are one of the richest companies in the world, you cannot impose your own rules. We have labor market agreements in the Northern region and you have to respect them if you want to do business here.”– says Jan Willadsen, president of the Danish transport company 3F Transport in solidarity with the Swedish Tesla employees.

Faced with mounting pressure, the steel mills union announced a temporary layoff in mid-February, allowing some Tesla repairs, but the conflict appears far from resolved.

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