Elon Musk is in trouble with unions again. In Sweden, the dispute between his company comes to a head Tesla and IF Metall to such an extent that Tesla is now suing the Swedish state through the Swedish Transport Authority. The reason for this is striking postal workers who stopped the delivery of license plates for new vehicles from the Texas automobile manufacturer.
Tesla is not unionized worldwide, but Swedish workers are demanding that the carmaker sign a collective agreement that most workers in Sweden have. Tesla does not have a production facility in Sweden but operates several service centers.
“Discriminatory attack on Tesla”
Tesla said it is suing “the Swedish state through the Swedish Transport Authority” because denying access to the license plates “represents an unlawful, discriminatory attack on Tesla.” The lawsuit was filed on Monday. The agency has “a constitutional obligation to provide license plates to vehicle owners.”
Mikael Andersson, a press spokesman for the authority, is apparently surprised that Tesla is suing his authority while the post office is actually preventing the delivery of the license plates. In an email, Andersson told The Associated Press that the Swedish Transport Agency did not share the view that the agency was blocking the distribution of license plates. “That is why Tesla has decided to have the matter examined in court, which is their right,” says Andersson. “We have not yet seen the lawsuit and it is therefore difficult for us to comment directly. We must first look at the lawsuit and Tesla’s argument.”
According to the lawsuit, obtained by The Associated Press, Tesla wants the district court to fine the authority 1 million kronor (about $95,000) to “commit” the Swedish Transportation Authority to Tesla within three days of the announcement to allow the district court’s decision to “retrieve license plates.”
On October 27, 130 members of the powerful metal workers’ union IF Metall went on strike at seven workshops across the country that service the popular electric cars, demanding a collective agreement. Swedish mechanics stopped servicing Tesla cars and several unions, including postal workers, joined IF Metall’s demands in a wave of sympathy. Dock workers in Sweden’s four largest ports have also stopped deliveries of Tesla vehicles to increase pressure on the automaker.
Musk is lashing out on Twitter again
Last week, Tesla boss Elon Musk (52) wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which he owns, that it was “crazy” that Swedish postal workers refused to assign license plates for new vehicles delivery.
IF Metall had previously stated that Tesla Sweden refused to sign a collective agreement and thereby violated fundamental principles of the Swedish labor market. She called such agreements “the backbone of the Swedish model.” The union also asked for consumers’ understanding, saying: “We are doing this in the interests of our members to ensure they have safe working conditions.”
Also Germany is affected by the dispute. Around 50 employees of Tesla supplier Hydro Extrusions were among the strikers on Friday. According to the union, they stopped working last Friday or were deployed to other departments. “They deliver parts to the Tesla factory near Berlin, and we hope that they will come back to the negotiating table if production is disrupted,” said the responsible union negotiator Veli-Pekka Saikkala.
Hydro Extrusions is a subsidiary of the Norwegian aluminum and energy group Hydro. According to union information, the company is the only Tesla supplier of certain aluminum parts in Europe.