A Swedish court on Thursday, December 7, denied a motion by Tesla to temporarily force a mail carrier to deliver license plates before a lawsuit brought by the electric carmaker had been ruled upon.
Since October 27, some 130 mechanics at 10 Tesla repair shops in seven Swedish cities have been striking to protest against the carmaker's refusal to sign a collective agreement. The strike has since grown into a larger conflict between Tesla and almost a dozen unions seeking to protect Sweden's labour model, including postal workers.
As license plates for new cars are only delivered by mail in Sweden, the blockade could stop new Teslas hitting the road there, something Tesla CEO Elon Musk branded "insane".
In late November, Tesla filed lawsuits against the Swedish Transport Agency and mail carrier Postnord, which is owned by the Swedish and Danish states, to compel them to hand over license plates and mail to the carmaker.
Tesla also asked the court to force Postnord to hand over some deliveries, including license plates, while the case was pending. "Very specific conditions are required to make such a decision and that requirement is not met," Judge Patrik Alm of the Solna district court said in a statement.
Tesla originally saw some success with its lawsuits as a separate district court issued a provisional ruling last week that the transport agency should allow Tesla to pick up license plates directly from the manufacturer. The ruling was however appealed, with the appellate court on Tuesday suspending the district court's decision.
Tesla has long rejected calls to allow the company's 127,000 employees worldwide to unionize. However, collective agreements with unions are the basis of the Swedish labor market model, covering almost 90 percent of all employees and guaranteeing wages and working conditions. Some 50,000 Teslas are registered in the country of 10.5 million inhabitants.