STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish dockworkers broadened their mobilization against Tesla on Friday and are now preventing the unloading of the American car manufacturer’s cars at all ports, in solidarity with the group’s employees who are demanding collective agreements.
Tesla, founded and run by Elon Musk, does not manufacture in Sweden but its electric cars are maintained by around 130 mechanics affiliated with the Swedish union IF Metall, which began a strike on October 27.
Dockworkers joined the mechanics’ movement on November 7, blocking access for Tesla cars to Sweden’s four largest ports. The strike was extended to all ports on Friday at 11:00 GMT.
“If they came to Sweden, they have to follow the rules. We have certain standards here and he (Musk) has to accept them,” said Torbjorn Johansson, negotiations secretary at Swedish trade union confederation LO.
“Swedish workers cannot afford to lose this fight.”
In addition to dock workers, unionized cleaners are refusing to clean Tesla buildings and postal workers have stopped delivering mail.
Electricians stopped maintenance and repair work for Tesla on Friday, including at its charging stations across Sweden.
Swedish workers are also supported by Norway’s Fellesforbundet, the largest union in the country’s LO confederation.
If no agreement is reached, action against Tesla is expected to intensify further on November 24, when some 50 unionized workers at Hydro Extrusions, a subsidiary of Norwegian aluminum and energy company Hydro, will stop working on Tesla’s automotive products.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
(Report by Marie Mannes; with contributions from Louise Rasmussen, Johan Ahlander and Johannes Birkebaek; French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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