Tesla Loses Legal Battle with Swedish Postal Service in Fight with Trade Unions
Stockholm, Dec 7 (Reuters) – In the midst of a growing conflict with Nordic trade unions, Tesla (TSLA.O) suffered a blow in a legal battle with Sweden’s postal service on Thursday.
The Swedish court ruled that PostNord is not required, for the time being, to deliver license plates to Tesla, which have been blocked by the postal service’s workers. This decision marks the latest development in a dispute over collective bargaining agreements.
The conflict has escalated further with Tesla facing pressure in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark from unions supporting the mechanics at Swedish IF Metall, who went on strike on Oct. 27 demanding a collective agreement with the company.
The Nordics is a crucial market for Tesla, and the company’s policy of not agreeing to collective bargaining has sparked backlash from unions and other workers.
In fact, a large Danish pension fund revealed that it sold its holdings in Tesla due to the company’s refusal to enter into such agreements, with the value of the shares amounting to 476 million Danish crowns ($68.9 million).
The situation has also led to a lawsuit between Tesla and PostNord, as the workers refused to deliver plates for the company’s new cars in a sympathy strike. The court’s decision on Thursday is an interim one ahead of the final ruling.
In response to the court’s latest decision, Seko, the union that organized the PostNord workers behind the sympathy strike, emphasized the importance of respecting the Swedish collective agreement model.
Meanwhile, PostNord expressed satisfaction with the court’s interim verdict, reiterating its neutrality in the matter. The company’s spokesperson emphasized that their role is to provide universal postal service and not review the agreements made by other companies.
Last year, Norway was Tesla’s fourth-biggest market by number of new car sales, and Sweden was the fifth-biggest. Notably, Tesla’s Model Y is the most sold car in Sweden this year.
While some Swedish pension funds have urged Tesla to sign the agreement with the union, they have not yet divested their shares in the company.
Tesla and IF Metall have not provided immediate comments on the developments.
($1 = 6.9101 Danish crowns)
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Marie Mannes in Stockholm; Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; additional reporting by Johan Ahlander and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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