2023-11-27 19:17:32
Tesla reacts on the legal ground. The American giant has taken legal action against the Swedish state over the refusal of postal sector employees to deliver the license plates of its new cars. The strike movement targeting Tesla, launched at the end of October by the metallurgical union IF Metall due to the manufacturer’s refusal to adhere to a collective agreement on wages, has since expanded to other sectors.
The postal sector joined the movement on November 20. Employees stopped delivering to Tesla offices and repair shops. As license plates are only delivered by mail, the strike could prevent new Teslas from circulating, which the group’s boss, Elon Musk, described as “insane” on Friday.
In its application to the Norrköping District Court, Tesla asks it to require the Swedish Transport Agency to ensure that the license plates “come into the possession of Tesla”. It is also demanding a fine of one million crowns (87,000 euros) if the public agency fails to enforce a possible court decision.
Nine unions in solidarity with the movement
The Swedish Transport Agency indicated last week that the sending of the plates was entrusted to the postal group Postnord, under a contract applying to all government agencies. In another request, Tesla asks the court in Solna, a suburb of Stockholm, to force Postnord, owned by the Swedish and Danish states, to return the plates.
In addition to IF Mettall, nine other unions have announced solidarity measures towards Tesla employees, such as dockworkers and construction workers. Negotiated sector by sector, collective agreements form the basis of the Swedish labor market model. They cover almost 90% of all Swedish employees and guarantee them minimum wages and working conditions.
Although they are unionized, Tesla workers do not benefit from sectoral collective agreements because their company has not signed the agreement. The American electric car specialist has always rejected calls for unionization among its 127,000 employees worldwide.
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