The striking workers had been demanding a collective agreement governing pay and working conditions. Tesla has always rejected their demands.
Read this article in Norwegian on Arbeidsliv i Norden
Many trade unions in Sweden and the neighbouring Nordic countries have staged sympathy actions and comprehensive blockades in support of the striking Tesla workers.
On Thursday 13 August, the IF Metall trade union announced that the strike at Tesla workshops in Sweden would end at midnight on 19 August.
The reason was that Tesla had bought out all of the union’s striking members who worked for the company. The strike therefore had no more effect, wrote IF Metall.
“We can conclude that Tesla is so strongly opposed to collective agreement they would rather buy out employees who are trade union members that give them with secure conditions.
“This is unprecedented in the Swedish labour market, just like Tesla’s systematic use of strike-breaking tactics. The company has used methods that have been banned in Sweden since the 1930s,” says IF Metall’s agreement secretary Simon Petersson.
In a press release, Tesla calls the trade union’s strike a challenging period, writes Dagens Arbete.
The company does not say why it has chosen not to enter into a collective agreement.
“Tesla Sweden and our employees have chosen to use our legal right not to enter into a collective agreement, just like many other Swedish companies.
“As membership in a trade union is voluntary, we believe we fulfil the Swedish model’s main principle,” Tesla writes according to Dagens Arbete.
Swedish LO writes in a press release that IF Metall faced a company led by the world’s richest man, who is also opposed to trade unions.
“The conflict has demonstrated the massive public support for the Swedish model. It strengthens us to know that the Swedes have been cheering us on.
“The conflict has also raised awareness of the importance of collective agreements and as such has been more successful than any advertising campaign,” says Veli-Pekka Säikkälä, collective bargaining secretary at Swedish LO.
