On August 15, the Swedish union IF Metall, largely unnoticed during the summer lull, temporarily ended its historic strike against the multinational Tesla after 600 days. The dispute, which began on October 27, 2023 – marking the first-ever strike against the company on a global scale and one of the longest in Sweden's history – centered on Tesla's refusal to sign collective bargaining agreements with the roughly 100 specialized mechanics who service its vehicles. Tesla has just one manufacturing site in Europe, located in Berlin.
While collective bargaining agreements are not legally mandatory in Sweden, they serve as the cornerstone of negotiations over wages and working conditions, cover the vast majority of employees and lend legitimacy to unions – which still recruit nearly 70% of the workforce, a number that continues to decline but remains a global record. Therefore, this dispute, which at first glance involved only a small number of workers in a very specific sector, carries significant stakes: upholding a standard that still ensures a high level of employee protection in a highly globalized economy. IF Metall even stated that if Tesla refused to sign the agreements, it would be compelled to leave Sweden. The American company Toys "R" Us had already been forced to yield to this union in 1995, after only a few weeks of industrial action and for similar reasons.
This time, both Tesla and the unions had to demonstrate even greater endurance in a conflict that consumed considerable resources on both sides. IF Metall, for instance, repeatedly benefited from solidarity actions by other unions not directly involved in the dispute but able to disrupt Tesla's operations: dockworkers for vehicle shipments, postal workers for sending registration certificates and electricians for installing and maintaining charging stations, among others. These efforts forced Tesla to devise creative ways to bypass the blockades, including attempts to reroute its operations through Denmark. And yet, unions there also regularly intervened. It is worth noting that Scandinavia is Tesla's largest European market: Norway is at the forefront and is on the verge of becoming the first country in the world to stop selling new gasoline cars. The strike and Tesla's attempts to circumvent it proved costly not only to Tesla's reputation but also to its market share.
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