On December 7, Tesla lost a lawsuit against Sweden’s postal service, which refused to send license plates to the EV manufacturer. This further exacerbated Tesla’s problems with labor unions in the region.
In a show of support for the mechanics striking in protest to the company’s reluctance to sign a collective bargaining agreement, postal workers blocked Tesla license plate deliveries late last month.
Collective bargaining agreements, which guarantee employees the opportunity to negotiate wages, vacation time, overtime pay, and other conditions, are the cornerstone of Scandinavian economic models.
However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk might be more concerned about the sympathy strikes sweeping through Scandinavia as other unions unite to support the region’s well-established notion of collective bargaining as the cornerstone of labor relations.
Union members from various Swedish industries have joined the strike action with the trade union IF Metall members, which has been locked in a six-week battle with Tesla.
Earlier this week, Denmark’s largest trade union declared a solidarity strike to prevent Tesla vehicles from being delivered to Danish ports and transported to Sweden.
Then, on December 6, the biggest private sector union in Norway declared that it would start obstructing car shipments to Sweden on December 20. Moreover, the Finnish transport workers’ union (AKT) said on December 7 that, starting December 20, all Finnish ports would be subject to an embargo on Tesla vehicles intended for Sweden.
Additionally, one of the largest pension funds in Denmark declared that it would sell the Tesla stock it owned due to the U.S. company’s reluctance to reach labor union agreements.
