STOCKHOLM — Dockworkers in Sweden pledged on Friday to refuse to dump Tesla vehicles at any of the nation’s ports as they expanded their industrial motion in sympathy with Tesla employees’ calls for for collective bargaining agreements.
Tesla, co-founded by billionaire Elon Musk, doesn’t manufacture in Sweden, however its electrical vehicles are serviced by greater than 120 mechanics affiliated with Swedish union IF Metall, which started a strike on Oct. 27.
Dockworkers joined the strike by mechanics on Nov. 7, blocking Sweden’s 4 largest ports to Tesla vehicles. That was expanded to all ports on Friday at 12 a.m. (1100 GMT)
A spokesperson from the union Transport, which counts the dockworkers as its members, mentioned that Swedish ports typically noticed one to 3 shipments of Tesla vehicles per week, however no shipments had arrived for the reason that begin of the strike.
“So the blockade is working,” the spokesperson mentioned.
U.S.-based Tesla, which has revolutionised the electrical automotive market, has managed to keep away from collective bargaining agreements, which cowl wages and situations, with its roughly 127,000 employees and Musk has been vocal about his opposition to unions.
Marie Nilsson, head of IF Metall, instructed Reuters on Friday that the union had obtained some indications early on within the dispute that Tesla was participating in strike-breaking techniques by flying in employees from different nations.
“We have never experienced anything like this before… we haven’t dealt with this in Sweden since 1937 or so,” Nilsson says.
“And this has forced us to escalate the conflict,” she added.
If Sweden can break Tesla’s resistance, that would present a precedent for different nations.
To this point, unions in america and Germany have did not drive the carmaker to simply accept collective bargaining agreements.
“If they have come to Sweden, they must follow the rules. We have certain norms here and he (Musk) must accept them,” Torbjorn Johansson, negotiation secretary at Sweden’s LO labour confederation, mentioned.
“Swedish workers cannot afford to lose this fight.”
Swedish unions have achieved success earlier than getting international corporations to simply accept native industrial practices.
Within the Nineties, American toy firm Toys “R” Us signed a collective bargaining settlement with its 130 Swedish workers after a three-month strike.
Nilsson mentioned IF Metall had no plans to cease the strike motion anytime quickly.
“As long as it is needed,” she mentioned.
Along with dockworkers, unionised cleaners are refusing to wash Tesla buildings and postal employees have stopped delivering mail.
On Friday, electricians stopped service and restore work for Tesla, together with at its charging stations throughout Sweden.
Swedish employees are additionally supported by Norway’s Fellesforbundet, the largest union within the nation’s LO confederation.
Motion in opposition to Tesla in Sweden is because of escalate additional – if no settlement is reached – on Nov. 24 when about 50 unionised employees at Hydro Extrusions, a subsidiary of Norwegian aluminium and power firm Hydro, will cease work on Tesla automotive merchandise.
Tesla has not responded to repeated requests for remark.