Tesla is still a dominant force in the Swedish car market despite a union battle that has been going on for almost a year now.
For almost a year now, Tesla service workers in Sweden have been on strike, demanding inclusion in a collective agreement.
Tesla has historically opposed unions and successfully fought unions in its manufacturing facilities. At first, the Swedish strike appeared to be manageable, involving only a small number of workers. However, Tesla underestimated the power of unity among Swedish workers.
Many other unions in the country, including dock workers, electricians, and cleaning services affiliated with Tesla, have refused to cooperate with the company in support of the strike.
Elon Musk has reportedly told Tesla's Swedish workers that they are not allowed to sign a collective bargaining agreement with the union, a tough stance that has stalled negotiations. This approach has caused many unions to take action, with unions in Denmark and Norway joining a boycott of Tesla until the company agrees to a collective agreement with its service workers.
As the dispute continued, Tesla had to find ways to fix things, such as using more trucks and trains as the port workers refused to unload their cars and fly in service workers from other countries.
Despite these difficulties and the blow to his reputation for his strong stance against unions, Tesla is still doing very well in terms of car deliveries in Sweden.
According to the latest data from Mobility Sweden statistics, Tesla delivered 16,478 cars in Sweden during the first nine months of the year. This represents a 1% increase over the same period in 2023 – just before the strike began.
The company now has an impressive 8.5% market share in the country by 2024 from 7.8% last year.
But the problems are not over.
Yesterday 40 members of another union working for a power company in the city of Gothenburg announced that they will stop servicing Tesla charging stations as part of a boycott in support of the Tesla strike.
Tesla still prefers to handle these issues one at a time rather than allow unions to get in the door of its operation.
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